Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced this week that his department has opened cases into several of the state’s nursing homes regarding criminal neglect of patients and residents during the coronavirus pandemic.
“While we salute and appreciate nursing home staff on the front lines during this pandemic, we will not tolerate those who mistreat our seniors and break the law,” he said.
“We encourage people to share relevant complaints with us on our special tip line so we can best protect people in nursing homes.”
Under Pennsylvania law, neglect of a care-dependent person is considered to have happened when their caretaker has failed to properly provide for their health, safety, and welfare.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health will require nursing homes to start reporting the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in their facilities from tomorrow, but had reported at least 12,408 cases of coronavirus among residents and 1,806 among staff as of May 13.
At least 2,705 people have died across the state – around two-thirds of its total number of coronavirus deaths.
