COLUMBIA, S.C. — A lawsuit has been filed in Richland County court against the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) for failure to identify nursing homes and long care facilities that have reported COVID-19 positive staff members or residents.
Charleston resident Frank Heindel filed the lawsuit on Friday, April 18, 2020. In it, he states that while DHEC reports there are 39 such facilities in the state currently impacted by the virus, the department has not identified the specific facilities by name or location.
Other states -- Georgia, Ohio, Colorado and Florida -- do identify long term care facilities impacted by the virus, and Heindel believes that DHEC’s refusal to release this information is unnecessarily endangering lives. His suit asks for "an emergency relief to force DHEC to reveal the identities of the nursing homes and long-term care facilities, so medical providers and the public can act in an informed manner."
In a statement, Heindel says, "Like everyone else, I am very concerned about our most vulnerable citizens and communities, and the health care workers who are risking their lives to care for our loved ones. DHEC serves to serve us, we don’t exist to serve DHEC. The lack of transparency, and DHEC’s cavalier attitude, motivated me to bring this to the Court’s attention.”
