Articles for Geoff Kelly

Apr 10

2020

More than 175 health-care workers have virus

 Updated at 5:14 p.m. At least 176 doctors, nurses and other health-care workers at the region’s three largest health-care providers have tested positive for COVID-19.  That’s more than 10 percent of the total confirmed cases in Erie and Niagara counties. Kaleida Health, the region’s largest health-care provider, has reported the most infections, 103, as of Wednesday, according to a document obtained by Investigative Post. Eight of those are doctors; the rest are nurses and other staff. Kaleida spokesman Michael Hughes confirmed that number, adding that Kaleida has tested more than 600 employees so far. The total at Kaleida has[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Apr 8

2020

COVID-19: Transit, airport use tumbles

As one might expect, the COVID-19 shutdown has dramatically cut the number of people traveling by air and public transit. Indeed, the numbers are stark. Just a month ago, 6,000 to 7,000 passengers flew in and out of Buffalo Niagara International Airport each day. Now, it’s fewer than 1,000, according to figures provided by the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority.  Ridership on NFTA buses and light-rail trains is also down, by around three-quarters. Train ridership has been especially hard hit, as downtown businesses and government buildings have shut down to all but essential employees and officials have discouraged in-person interactions with[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Apr 6

2020

Kelly: COVID-19 a “body blow” to hospitals

Geoff Kelly reported Friday that the pandemic has drained hospitals of revenues while driving up costs. Medical practices both big and small are also hurting financially. Listen to his interview Monday morning with Susan Rose on WBEN.  

Posted 5 years ago

Apr 2

2020

Health care providers hemorrhaging money

Western New York’s hospitals were in dire financial shape coming into 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic  — with the attendant costs in equipment, staffing and, perhaps most damagingly, lost revenue — is going to compound their problems.  “It’s going to be ugly,” Kaleida spokesman Michael Hughes told Investigative Post in an email. It’s not just hospitals that will feel the pain, either. Primary care practices, clinics and other medical service providers, their business greatly diminished by the shutdown, all are facing pay cuts, layoffs and even closure.  The $2.2 trillion federal CARES Act, passed last week by Congress, includes a $100[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Mar 25

2020

COVID-19 adds to plight of the homeless

These are especially difficult days — and nights — for the homeless of Western New York. They share the same fears about COVID-19 as do those comfortably cloistered in their houses and apartments. But they also have fewer options as to where to bed for the night, as some shelters have closed and others have reduced their capacity to comply with state edicts intended to limit crowds and contact between people. The homeless also often lack ready access to other basics, such as medical care. “Being homeless right now, anywhere, is a pretty tough thing,” Jean Bennett, director of Housing[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Mar 19

2020

COVID-19 expected to worsen Buffalo finances

The coronavirus, and the attendant slowdown of the local economy, could not arrive at a worse time for the City of Buffalo’s finances. The likely decline in county sales tax — Buffalo’s share of which is a critical portion of the city’s budget — could contribute to a deficit when the fiscal year ends June 30. Early spring is the worst period of the year for the City of Buffalo’s cash flow, as Investigative Post reported last year.  The city comptroller’s office projected the city would run a positive cash flow balance of $3.5 million for February, and that number is[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Mar 16

2020

Coronavirus throws electioneering for a loop

On Saturday, as part of the state government’s efforts to suppress the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo used his emergency powers to curtail the petitioning process for candidates aiming to make the ballot in the state’s June primaries. By executive order, that process — traditionally a door-to-door, face-to-face affair performed by a candidate and campaign volunteers — is suspended at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 17. All petitions must be filed by Friday, March 20.  The original deadline for filing petitions had been April 2. The petitioning season opened February 25. To compensate for the abbreviated petitioning period, Cuomo[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Feb 19

2020

Lead poisoning plan missing key elements

In January, the City of Buffalo launched its long-awaited pilot program to combat lead poisoning. The pilot program is small — much smaller than the problem in Buffalo, which has one of the highest rates of children afflicted with lead poisoning in the nation.  And, as it stands now, the program lacks funding mechanisms to make it bigger.  Furthermore, a key element is still missing: a new local law that will allow city inspectors access to the interiors of the city’s abundant rental singles and doubles in poor neighborhoods. Those dwellings comprise 80 percent of the city’s highest-risk properties. Still,[...]

Posted 5 years ago
Investigative Post