PRINTER'S NO. 3790
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
879
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY DIAMOND, MILLARD, RYAN, GREGORY, BOROWICZ, JAMES,
DUSH, CAUSER, MUSTELLO, COOK, DAVANZO, KEEFER, BERNSTINE,
SANKEY, PYLE, IRVIN, METCALFE, ROAE, ZIMMERMAN, BARRAR AND
MENTZER, MAY 19, 2020
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, MAY 19, 2020
A RESOLUTION
Urging the immediate removal or resignation of Secretary of
Health Dr. Rachel Levine.
WHEREAS, Dr. Levine was named as the Acting Secretary of
Health by Governor Tom Wolf in July 2017 and confirmed by the
Senate as Secretary of Health in March 2018; and
WHEREAS, The Department of Health is responsible under The
Disease Prevention and Control Act of 1955 to carry out
appropriate control measures to limit the spread of disease in
order to protect all Pennsylvanians; and
WHEREAS, The Department of Health has led the charge during
the COVID-19 pandemic in providing guidance to the departments
and agencies that oversee this Commonwealth's most vulnerable
populations, especially seniors, older adults and individuals
with compromised immune systems; and
WHEREAS, The Department of Health, under Secretary Levine,
halted routine inspections, including life safety and emergency
preparedness elements, of long-term care facilities, including
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nursing homes, hospice care, home health care and intermediate
care, on March 31, 2020; and
WHEREAS, The Department of Health, under Secretary Levine,
instituted guidance for nursing facilities to admit and readmit
patients who tested positive for COVID-19 on March 18, 2020,
putting the patients and staff of nursing facilities at greater
risk; and
WHEREAS, To date, 2,611 of 3,806, or 68.6%, of the COVID-19-
related deaths in this Commonwealth have occurred in long-term
care facilities; and
WHEREAS, On March 29, 2020, it was widely reported that
Secretary Levine's mother was a resident in one of this
Commonwealth's personal care homes; and
WHEREAS, On May 11, 2020, Secretary Levine confirmed during a
press conference that she moved her mother out of the personal
care home and into a hotel; and
WHEREAS, Despite moving her own mother out of the personal
care home, Secretary Levine did not make the residents of this
Commonwealth immediately aware of her actions nor the underlying
reasons, therefore withholding information and transparency
which could have benefited the citizens of this Commonwealth and
their loved ones, and potentially could have saved lives;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge the
immediate removal or resignation of the Secretary of Health Dr.
Rachel Levine.
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