The report released Thursday by New York’s attorney general has further highlighted the difficulties in accurately documenting and reporting COVID-related deaths involving nursing homes — especially for county health departments that are not always notified of such fatalities in the first place.

The investigation by Letitia James’ office takes aim at the state Health Department’s method in which virus deaths in nursing homes and adult care facilities are reported. The deaths, released daily by the state Health Department, do not reflect those moved to hospitals and who later die there. James’ report found that there were a larger number of nursing home residents who died from COVID-19 than indicated by the state.

James said state data may be undercounting fatalities by as much as 50%.

County officials noted last week that fatalities in nursing homes and adult care facilities are reported directly to the state, not local health departments. As a result, some COVID deaths are not always known right away.

“It’s very disappointing,” Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel said of the report’s findings. “It’s alarming that we did have people die and there was a delay in the deaths being relayed to the county.”

That delay was evident Jan. 22 when 23 new COVID-related deaths were included in the county’s total. Those fatalities involved nursing home residents who had passed away over a several-week span.

“We are not always notified of a death,” said Christine Schuyler, public health director and commissioner of Social Services, during a county Health Board meeting this month. “We know if someone is within that isolation period, we normally know. If someone is within a hospital, we usually can find that out or see it a few days later on a state report. People who die within nursing homes, we are not notified of. We don’t follow them. That’s the state Health Department that follows cases within our skilled nursing facilities, so we aren’t always notified of that.”

Additional deaths from nursing facilities were included in new totals released this week as well, Wendel indicated. As of Thursday, 103 county residents have died with the virus to date.

The state Health Department said 37 residents, as of Thursday, have died with the virus inside local nursing homes. According to information collected from the facilities, five of the deaths involve residents of Absolut Care of Westfield; 21 at Chautauqua Nursing and Rehab in Dunkirk; eight at Heritage Green in Greenhurst; and three at Heritage Village in Gerry.

The state’s reporting method continues to frustrate county officials.

“It’s sending a very challenging message,” Wendel said. “We have stood firm on being transparent, and now we’re getting 23 new deaths one day, nine another and then five the next. This is absurd, and we have these individuals who call my office asking for help because their relatives are in these facilities and they can’t see them. I’m kind of at a loss for words to be honest.”

The county executive said he is concerned with the recent increase in COVID deaths at nursing homes. The majority have been reported by the state this month.

“It’s very concerning anytime someone dies, and our hearts go out to those families,” said Wendel, noting that it “makes you wonder” how many additional fatalities involving nursing home residents may not yet be recorded in the county.

Lisa Haglund, CEO and president at Heritage, put out a statement following the release of the report. “I think we all share in the regulatory frustrations, inefficiencies, and red tape. However, locally we know our focus, and have strong teams in place to tackle each new situation as it arises. I am a firm believer that we need to celebrate what we have done as a county, state, and county, while also analyzing areas of growth for all.

“In our county we are lucky to have reduced silos, which I attribute primarily to a strong community approach. I have seen countless example of other entities, the county, and our hospitals working together for our residents. At Heritage, we recently welcomed in the Department of Health to all three of our skilled nursing facilities. All facilities received a clean report, with zero deficiencies. That’s almost unheard of during good days, and even harder to achieve in a pandemic. Additionally, the Department of Health checked all Heritage death certificates and found us to be 100% in compliance.”

Meanwhile, health officials noted 102 new COVID cases, which brings to the total to 6,500. Of the new cases, 18 have come from the Dunkirk zip code, nine in Fredonia, 28 in Jamestown, six in Falconer and nine in Lakewood.

The county also has updated the number of people who have received doses of the COVID vaccine. As of Jan. 23, the latest available to date, 7,849 people (6.05% of the county population) have received their first dose, with 1,046 people (0.81%) received their second dose.

There are currently 410 active cases of COVID within the county, an increase of 14 from Wednesday. The number of people in the hospital remains at 38, while the number of those in quarantine rose, from 1,810 to 1,944.

In Cattaraugus County, three new COVID deaths were recorded, involving a 47-year-old woman, 80-year-old woman and 81-year-old woman, all of whom developed respiratory failure. “We extend our deepest condolences to their family and the entire Cattaraugus County community,” the county Health Department said in a statement.

There were 30 new COVID cases noted Wednesday evening. To date there have been 3,672 total confirmed cases, of which 407 were considered active, as well as 3,191 recoveries, 47 people with the virus in the hospital and a seven-day positivity rate of 6.1%.