Aida Pabey and her siblings say they can't sleep at night thinking about their 72-year-old mother's final moments at the Isabella Geriatric Center. 

Elba Pabey died on April 6, a few weeks after the state banned visitors to nursing homes. 

What You Need To Know

  • Voices For Seniors hosted a rally outside to remember those who died as a result of COVID-19 and demand accountability for the center allegedly underreporting deaths

  • The Facebook group that started off as a place to grieve has now grown to over 3,000 members who are advocating for more transparency

  • Voices for Seniors say, as of August 2, Isabella Geriatric Center had 179 residents die as a result of the coronavirus

  • According to state records, there is total of 68 confirmed and presumed COVID-related deaths

When the sisters got the call that their mother wasn't going to make it, they rushed to the facility. 

Haydee Pabey, an NYPD detective, was able to get inside to see their dying mother.

"I told her a dozen times how much I loved her and she was the best mother in the world and then they kicked me out of her room," said Pabey.

Elba passed away a few hours later. 

Saturday, the Pabey family was joined by others who've experience similar heartbreaks with their loved ones staying in nursing homes or rehab centers during the pandemic.

They call themselves Voices for Seniors. The group hosted a rally outside Isabella Geriatric Center to remember those who died as a result of COVID-19 and demand accountability for the center allegedly underreporting deaths and failing to take proper safety measures. 

"It started off as more of a grief page and we just continued to speak about what more can we do," said Alexa Rivera, one of the co-founders of the group.

Sisters Alexa Rivera and Vivian Zayas founded the Facebook group after their mother died in a facility on Long Island.

It has since grown to thousands of members advocating for more transparency with what protocols nursing homes took to stop the spread of the virus.  

Over the last several months they have been rallying outside of facilities they say are under reporting the number of COVID-19 related deaths.   

"We are attaching a number with a face and a family," added Vivian Zayas.

Voices for Seniors say, as of August 2, Isabella Geriatric Center had 179 residents die as a result of the coronavirus.

According to state records, there is a total of 68 confirmed and presumed COVID realted deaths.

The state is not including the number of nursing home residents who were transferred to a hospital and died there.

"There are so many other families that are going through this and have the trauma that we went through. We know we are not alone, but we can't let this happen," said Pabey.

A spokesperson for Isabella said they are continuing to follow state and federal guidelines for infection control and reporting.

Voices For Seniors say they will continue to hold their rallies until someone is held responsible for what they believe were preventable deaths of their loved ones.