The Peru Gazette

Source: CVAC gymnastics all stars | Sun Community News Members of the Section VII gymnastics all star team include (from left) Lilly Swyers, Shana Manor, Lauren Prescott, Maleah Lunan, Oona Hall, Caleigh Latour, Kennedy Beyer, Nate Sarnow, Ninah Keliihananui, Kend

Source: North Country Honor Flight announces 2022 flights | Sun Community News PLATTSBURGH | To the elation of community partners, supporters and veterans alike, North Country Honor Flight has announced its flight plans for 2022.

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Source: North Country Chamber’s 63rd Irish Person of the Year announced | Sun Community News PLATTSBURGH | The North Country Chamber of Commerce held its 63 annual St. Patricks Day Breakfast Thursday, March 17 to announce the Irish Person of the Year.

“But not only can a Republican and a Democrat work together in Warren County, they can even sit in the same room and laugh together.   “I don’t recall any problems between the two of us,” said Republican William VanNess. “Nope,” replied Democrat Beth McLaughlin.”

Source: Warren County election officials cross party lines to help high school students register to vote | NCPR News

Hospital one of many options throughout the community 

PLATTSBURGH, NY (3/17/2022) – With the demand for COVID-19 testing in the community significantly declining, The University of Vermont Health Network-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH) is transitioning its testing program to the Main Campus, located at 75 Beekman Street, beginning Saturday, March 26.

COVID-19 testing currently taking place at CVPH Occupational Health & Wellness, located at 23 Hammond Lane, will end at 2 p.m. on Friday, March 25.

“We offer COVID-19 testing that meets very specific needs, including for patients before their procedure and those with a physician order,” CVPH Vice President for Population Health and Information Services Wouter Rietsema, MD noted. “There are many other places in our community that offer COVID-19 testing services, including for free and with no order required. We encourage folks to seek the test that best fits their needs.”

Appointments at the site run by New York State can be made by visiting the Quadrant Biosciences website. This testing site is located in SUNY Plattsburgh’s Adirondack Hall on Sanborn Avenue. Dr. Rietsema pointed out many pharmacies in the region collect samples, and patients can ask their health care provider about available testing. To find COVID-19 testing options nearby, head to the state COVID-19 test finder: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/find-test-site-near-you.

For those who chose CVPH as their testing option, an appointment and physician order is required. Testing appointments can be scheduled by calling (518) 314-3278. Our first floor lab is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends. Pre-procedural tests do not require an appointment but they are encouraged. Hospital officials say they are evaluating current COVID-19 testing policies and protocols, and an update for those patients is expected soon.

Patients getting tested in the first-floor lab may experience longer wait times during the transition from the Hammond Lane location, and Dr. Rietsema thanked the community in advance for its patience during the process. Gregory Freeman, CVPH Director of Occupational Health & Wellness, also expressed gratitude for his team’s commitment to caring for patients.

“Our team has done a tremendous job meeting the testing needs of our community, and I am proud of the dedication to our patients through the challenging delta and omicron surges,” Freeman said. “Thousands of people have been able to get answers to help limit the spread of the virus and receive the care and treatments they needed. This transition of testing will allow us to focus all of our energy on meeting the many needs of our employees and the businesses we serve.”

Since the Hammond Lane location opened for community COVID-19 testing on September 7, 2021, more than 27,000 samples have been collected and processed, with a single-day record of 443 on January 5, 2022. Currently, the facility is collecting about 30 samples a day, far below the peaks seen during the omicron surge.

For the latest information on COVID-19 testing available at CVPH, visit https://www.UVMHealth.org/CVPHCOVID19Testing.

The New York Daily News published an op-ed from New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today. The full op-ed is below:

Diagnosing Team Cuomo’s nursing home failures: The state comptroller explains his audit of the former governor’s COVID performance

New York City just marked the two-year anniversary of the first confirmed death from COVID-19 and the start of the pandemic that we are still trying to recover from economically and emotionally. Part of that recovery is a reckoning with how we responded to it.

My office’s recent audit examines how the state Department of Health (DOH) collected and used data from nursing homes to curb the virus’ spread. DOH was not prepared when the COVID-19 pandemic reached New York. It didn’t have the controls and procedures in place to stop a viral spread in nursing homes. Persistent underinvestment in public health has left DOH without critical resources and underequipped to deal with events such as the pandemic.

Early in the pandemic, as the virus rapidly spread, DOH’s poor data collection undercounted — by more than 50% at times — the COVID-related deaths of New Yorkers living in nursing homes. DOH staff was working tirelessly, but from April 12, 2020, to Feb. 3, 2021, the agency used alternating ways of reporting nursing home deaths with little public explanation. Over those 10 months, it failed to report at least 4,100 lives lost to COVID-19

When it finally got a handle on tracking COVID nursing home deaths, and knew the correct numbers, the numbers continued to be underreported.

The public was misled by the highest level of state government and given a distorted version of reality that suppressed facts when they deserved the truth. It is unacceptable that we still don’t know just how many nursing home residents died.

Besides not being prepared, DOH was slow to carry out the federal government’s order that it assess whether nursing homes were keeping residents out of harm’s way. As we learned, many did not.

The agency surveyed just 20% of facilities between March 23 and May 30, 2020, compared to more than 90% in some other states. It had to hire temporary employees to do the surveys because it was understaffed.

When DOH did get to work and identified the various problems and violations at nursing homes, it issued 602 violations. My audit, however, could find no evidence that the majority of these problems (69%) were actually fixed.

This is a fundamental problem that goes beyond COVID to broader infection control. When DOH collects data, it is not using it to ensure problems are corrected and that outbreaks, regional trends or emerging infectious diseases are detected and tracked.

Crisis brought New Yorkers together after 9/11 and during the COVID pandemic. Our appreciation for one another is deeper in stressful times. We applauded the heroism of the doctors, nurses, EMTs, and all frontline workers from the subway system to the corner deli who kept our city going.

But we also have to reckon with what we did wrong or we risk endangering New Yorkers’ lives by repeating those mistakes in the future.

Of the New Yorkers who died from the COVID-19 virus, more than 15,000 of them were living in nursing homes.

Some today choose to smear those who report the facts as playing politics but nothing could be further from the truth. Families who were misled about their loved one’s deaths don’t care about politics. They want to finally get to the truth and some honest answers.
New York needs to heal and move forward. My recent audit hopefully helps fill in some of the missing facts in that story.

As we move forward, we need to recognize that New York has to do a better job of caring for and protecting vulnerable people, including nursing home residents. This is just the latest audit to find shortfalls and problems with these facilities. Since most residents of nursing homes are seniors, this also highlights shortcomings with how society services its older members.

Whether it’s programs that deliver meals to the housebound or how seniors’ complaints about their care and conditions are handled, the public services seniors rely on need greater priority and attention statewide.

That means making sure that resources are there to fix the problems that exist.
President Biden in February called on Congress to provide additional funding to support health and safety inspections at nursing homes. I am urging our congressional representatives to support this initiative. These funds could significantly help DOH improve its data systems and examine workforce needs and help local county health departments, who are critical in helping the agency respond to outbreaks and curb the spread of infection.

We need to increase resources to expand the use of infection control data to improve our response to the ongoing pandemic and future public health crises. I hope our current administration, including new leadership at the DOH, respond positively to our recommendations. We must avoid a repeat of past tragedies and learn from the mistakes of the worst of the COVID experience.

The Peru School Board of Education will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, March 22^nd at 6:00 PM in the High School Community Room.  It is anticipated that the Board will almost immediately convene in Executive Session to conduct employment interviews for the Superintendent of Schools vacancy.  At this time, no other District business is anticipated for this meeting.

The agenda will be available on the District’s website (perucsd.org).

The meeting is open to the public and all current District, County, State and Federal COVID-19 safety procedures and protocols will be followed.  The public may only view the open/public sessions of the meeting.  Executive Session is not available for viewing/attendance.

Thanks to Sister Debbie Blow for forwarding this 1 minute, 54 second movie.

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