Beaver County lawmaker introduces bill requiring nursing home inspections

A Beaver County legislator introduced legislation Monday that calls for the immediate inspection of all nursing homes in the state because of the covid-19 pandemic.

State Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Ambridge, also wrote a letter to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro that asks him to investigate the situation at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, the nursing home in Beaver County where at least 61 people have died from a covid-19 outbreak.

“We need to look at what’s going on there,” Matzie said of the situation at the nursing home.

He’s been trying to get those answers since late March, when county officials found out about the outbreak, and Matzie helped to get Beaver County added to what eventually became a statewide stay-at-home order.

“We didn’t want a catastrophe to occur at this facility,” Matzie said.

But the number of cases at the facility continued to rise and Matzie said he grew wary of Brighton’s response to the outbreak. He introduced the bill to protect its residents and others who live in long-term care facilities in Pennsylvania.

They include his father, 86-year-old Andrew Matzie, who lives in a long-term care facility.

“It’s personal,” Matzie said.

Twenty-nine of Matzie’s colleagues in the House have signed on as co-sponsors. Matzie hopes the bill can quickly move forward to a vote.

“Clearly, enough is not being done to mitigate and combat covid-19 in these facilities,” Matzie wrote in a memo accompanying the bill.

The bill would require the department of health to determine and assess each facilities’ infection control procedures, provide testing for every resident and worker, record all findings and report them to the public.

The department would also be required to provide the personnel and resources that are needed to deal with any outbreak, Matzie’s memo said.

He’s also asking for the attorney general to look into Brighton in light of a class-action lawsuit filed in part by one of his constituents alleging that lack of oversight by the state Department of Health allowed Brighton Rehab in Beaver to perform drug experiments on patients under the guise of clinical trials to prevent coronavirus.

Shapiro’s office has received the letter but hasn’t responded to Matzie, he said.

The bill’s introduction comes after the health department appointed an out-of-state temporary manager for the Brighton Rehab to deal with its response to the coronavirus outbreak there.

State health officials last week said they don’t think there were “red flags” about Brighton’s response to the outbreak.