The Peru Gazette

Source: Foster pleads guilty to first-degree murder | Sun Community News PLATTSBURGH | On the morning of trial March 16, accused killer Craig Foster pleaded guilty to top-level murder and kidnapping charges in connection with the violent July death of a Lyon Mount

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Source: Downtown business owner Jimmy Williams elected mayor of Saranac Lake | NCPR News

Source: Digging into Native Americans’ history in the Adirondacks – – The Adirondack Almanack

Source: Hochul signs sweeping workplace harassment reforms   | Sun Community News ALBANY | Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a package of legislation to address workplace harassment and discrimination. 

Source: New York opens license application portal for hemp farmers | Sun Community News ALBANY | Portal is the first step for growing adult-use cannabis industry in New York.

Source: Nearly $2M to YMCA to transform former Wellness Center | Sun Community News PLATTSBURGH | It’s been a record few years for the Plattsburgh YMCA after not only surviving the pandemic with impressive growth, but officials also opened the doors of a second lo

Youth Director John Flynn told the board that registration for Peru’s summer sports program would begin on March 15th.  According to the Peru Sports and Youth Program Facebook page Registration for all activities can be found online at townofperu.recdesk.com. Activities under the Clinton County Program include tball, baseball, and softball, as well as our summer activities tennis, summer soccer, arts and crafts, basketball, and volleyball. We will also have our very popular Fun Runs. Our summer activities run for one week each, for 4 days, from 9 am until noon.

The town board awarded a contract to P&H Senescac Inc. of Milton, Vermont, for $437,212.50 to remove the lagoon at the wastewater treatment plant. The town hasn’t used the lagoon in several years. The town received two bids. Water-Sewer-Parks Superintendent Courtney Tetrault warned that the removal process would generate foul odors.

Regulations and fees for groups using Heyworth-Mason are in the works. Town Supervisor Brandy McDonald said he receives many inquiries for events such as weddings, family reunions, and cookouts. The board is concerned about liquor consumption, cleanup, and other issues. Town Attorney Matt Favro suggested that McDonald contact the City of Plattsburgh officials to determine how they regulate park activities. The board will conduct a 5 p.m. April 11 workshop to discuss McDonald’s findings.

The Highway Department is looking into purchasing a sidewalk snow clearing machine in its 2023 budget. The current device is aged and about to stop functioning.

The Lake Champlain Basin program awarded Peru a $25,000 grant for phosphorus monitoring equipment.

In other actions, the board:

Learned from Supervisor McDonald that using grant monies for purchasing property than anticipated. The board hopes to use $125,000 in NYS grant monies to extend the waling trail north towards Lapham Mills Park. McDonald said, “Using grant monies to buy property can be done, but it’s complicated and time-consuming.”

Approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Clinton County Health Department to use the $6,759.40 grant the department awarded the town. The counselors agreed to use the grant for a water fountain – water bottle filling station at Heyworth-Mason Park, a bench, 9-hole disk golf equipment, and a bike rack.

Learned that this summer New York State Department of Transportation will be installing handicapped ramps at intersections where state highways intersect with county and town roads, such as at the junction of Moore Drive and the Bear Swamp Road.

Discussed applying for up to $15,000 of Clinton County tobacco monies. An exercise station was mentioned. The application is due by April 1.

Extended the bid opening date for the Telegraph Road-Sulivan Road culvert project to April 1, 2022, at 10 a.m.

Approved payment #11 to Rifenburg Construction in the amount of $39,900 in conection with the ongoing sewer system upgrade project.

Source: Plattsburgh man faces assault charge in connection with shooting

Centralized clinic to benefit patients and staff 

PLATTSBURGH, NY (3/16/2022) – Beginning Tuesday, March 22, outpatients at The University of Vermont Health Network-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH) Rehabilitation Services will have a newly renovated, centralized space to receive the care they need. The new facility, located in Suite 101 at 210 Cornelia Street, will serve as the headquarters for all of the hospital’s Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology services.

As a result, the clinics at 179 Tom Miller Road and 295 New York Road will close on Friday, March 18. A total of 420 outpatients and all 21 staff members from Tom Miller Road and New York Road will be able to take advantage of the new space at 210 Cornelia Street featuring the same equipment they currently have access to.

“This move will benefit our patients and our people,” CVPH Director of Rehabilitation Services Catherine Passino noted. “There is an added convenience, giving our patients a chance to go to other appointments at our practices on campus before or after their rehab, all while continuing to work with the familiar faces they’ve become comfortable with.”

“With a centralized location, our therapists will also be able to collaborate easier and offer a greater continuity of care, improving the patient experience,” Passino added.

Hours of operation at the new headquarters will be 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. To make an appointment, call (518) 562-4616.

Patients requiring hand therapy will continue to be seen at CVPH Hand Rehabilitation, located in Suite 103 at 214 Cornelia Street. For more information about all rehabilitation services available at CVPH, visit https://www.UVMHealth.org/CVPHRehabilitation.

Source: University of Vermont Medical Center plans to build staff housing

Source: CVPH nurses call for ‘fair contract’ | News | pressrepublican.com

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Audit Presents Timeline of State Health Department Underreporting of Nursing Home Deaths

The state Department of Health (DOH) was unprepared to respond to infectious disease outbreaks at nursing homes, even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit New York, an audit released today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli found. DiNapoli said that a persistent lack of funding for public health over the last decade forced DOH to operate without critical information systems and staff that could have identified and helped limit the spread of COVID-19 at nursing homes.

State auditors also found that DOH did not provide the public with accurate COVID-19 death counts and became entangled in the undercounting of those deaths as the Executive took control of information provided to the public. DOH would not provide auditors with a breakdown by name of the nursing home residents who died from COVID-19, and the actual number of nursing home residents who died is still uncertain. The audit revealed that, on many key indicators, New York significantly trailed other states in surveying nursing homes and developing strategies to stop infections from spreading in facilities.

“The pandemic was devastating and deadly for New Yorkers living in nursing homes. Families have a right to know if their loved one’s COVID-19 death was counted, but many still don’t have answers from the state Department of Health,” DiNapoli said. “Our audit findings are extremely troubling. The public was misled by those at the highest level of state government through distortion and suppression of the facts when New Yorkers deserved the truth. The pandemic is not over, and I am hopeful the current administration will make changes to improve accountability and protect lives. An important step would be for DOH to provide the families who lost loved ones with answers as to the actual number of nursing homes residents who died. These families are still grieving, and they deserve no less.”

Key audit findings:

• DOH understated the number of nursing home deaths due to COVID-19 by at least 4,100, and at times during the pandemic by more than 50%. A timeline included in the audit details the inaccurate death counts reported by DOH. When questioned by auditors, DOH officials could not explain the discrepancies. Auditors found the Executive routinely reported incorrect data, inflating the perception of New York’s performance against other states.
• DOH was slow to respond to a federal directive to conduct surveys of nursing homes for infection control problems, surveying just 20% of facilities between March 23 and May 30, 2020, compared with over 90% for some other states. DOH had to hire temporary employees to conduct nursing home surveys during the pandemic because it was understaffed. DOH issued 602 violations from these surveys; however, for 413 (69%) of them there was no indication that the deficiency was corrected.
• While DOH collects data on a range of issues including infections, DOH does not use it broadly to detect breakouts, geographic trends, and emerging infectious diseases or to shape its infection control policies. It also relies heavily on self-reported data from nursing homes. Auditors found that data from one of DOH’s key informational systems was not complete nor reliable, and found that DOH was aware of this problem long before the pandemic and had committed to resolving it. However, DOH never followed through on the corrective actions, which may have limited its ability to respond to the COVID-19 nursing home crisis.
• DOH imposed impediments on the audit, including delaying requested data, limiting auditors’ contact with program staff, not addressing auditors’ questions during meetings, and not providing supporting documentation. These are not routine actions by state agencies undergoing an Office of the State Comptroller audit and raise serious concerns about the control environment at DOH.

DOH’s inadequate nursing home oversight and low standards for compliance have been long-standing issues. Previous reports issued by DiNapoli’s auditors have taken issue with the department for setting minimum standards for compliance and setting a low bar for accountability for nursing homes. As the Centers for Disease Control cites the workforce as a “first line of defense against disease outbreaks and other health threats,” inadequate support led to some of the major problems that arose during the pandemic and delays in setting up infectious disease control procedures at health facilities.

President Biden in February called on Congress to provide additional funding to support health and safety inspections at nursing homes. The Comptroller urges Congressional support for this initiative as these funds could significantly help DOH improve its data systems and examine workforce needs, which have been limited by underinvestment.

The audit recommended:

• The Executive Chamber assess and improve its internal control environment, including improving cooperation with state oversight inquiries, communication with localities, and external reporting.
• DOH expand its use of infection control data to identify patterns, trends, areas of concern or non-compliance that will help create policy recommendations for infection control practices and nursing home surveys; improve quality of public reported data; and strengthen communication and coordination with localities on collection and reporting and use of infection control data.
• DOH collect supplemental data through other sources, such as the CDC, and incorporate it into its current data sets to establish a foundation to adequately address public health emergencies.

DOH agreed with some of the Comptroller’s recommendations but took exception to some statements in the audit. The response is included in the audit.

Audits:
Department of Health: Use, Collection, and Reporting of Infection Control Data

Prior audits:
Nursing Home Surveillance and Follow Up Audit
Oversight of Resident Care-Related Medical Equipment in Nursing Homes

Source: CVPH can’t you see: This is a healthcare emergency | Sun Community News PLATTSBURGH | “It’s more and more frequent that patients are being held in the ER for over 72 hours sometimes waiting for beds upstairs, and most times it’s 15 to 20 patients we’re hol

Safety of patients, staff and visitors prompted lockdown 

PLATTSBURGH, NY (03/15/2022) – Access to the University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physician Hospital (CVPH) Main Campus has been restored and Medical Office Buildings at 206, 210 and 214 Cornelia St. reopened after the hospital and office buildings were locked down earlier today.

The decision to limit access while those involved in an incident in our community were cared for in the Emergency Department was made in discussion with law enforcement.

“We implemented our lockdown policy with the safety of our staff, patients and visitors in mind. Our team did an awesome job putting their patients first while supporting their coworkers during this security concern,” said Michelle LeBeau, RN, BS, MHRM, President of Alice Hyde Medical Center and CVPH.

LeBeau also commented on the tremendous support from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. “We really are fortunate to have such exceptional professionals in our community,” she said.

The CVPH campus was locked down for a little over 2.5 hours.

Father Clyde Lewis of St. Mary’s Church in Champlain, NY announced on Friday that after two years of postponing their annual Bazaar, the event will happen this year on Sunday, May 29, 2022.

“This event has always shown how our neighborhoods come together to support each other. And I believe the community has greatly missed this event over the past two years,” said Father Lewis. “We are greatly looking forward to gathering with the community and celebrating our annual event once again.”

The event will be accompanied by the annual parade. All groups and organizations are welcome to participate. There are cash awards in the categories of themed float, automobile, corporate and band. Entry for organizations is free.

Also set to return this year to the Bazaar is the annual Garden Tractor Pull.

There will also be food booths, games, a country store and inflatable bouncy houses. This is a family-friendly event and St. Mary’s Church looks forward to welcoming families from around the region back to the event this year.

St. Mary’s will continue to post updates on their Facebook event. Please follow along there for the most up to date details: https://fb.me/e/1pDkrqRCM

For questions about the parade, contact Molly Ryan at (518)593-3762 or mfryan01@gmail.com. The entry form for the parade can be found here: https://forms.gle/UAYzQF4DEmma8D8m7.

For more info on the tractor pull, check here: https://fb.me/e/19lBORjHx

Those interested in volunteering for the event or interested in sponsoring the event should contact Kathy Ryan at (518)593-8540.

Source: Police: 1 injured in Town of Plattsburgh shooting