New York Nursing Home Abuse
Hidden Cameras Bust Nursing Home Abuse Offenders
January 5, 2006
New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer has announced that the placement of hidden cameras in two nursing homes has led to the arrest of 19 employees, a civil action, and discovery of several instances of serious nursing home abuse.
When it comes to nursing home abuse, the most devastating issue can be the difficulty in identifying cases of abuse or neglect. Often frail elderly patients have difficulty or are unable to communicate the abuse to family or authorities. Spitzer noted that “you often have an infirmed or frail witness whose testimony is set up against, often, more powerful and compelling witnesses on the other side.”
Nursing home abuse can be difficult to investigate and hard to prove. This is why Spitzer set out to capture on camera the nursing care practices at two New York nursing homes. What he found was deplorable and unacceptable.
The hidden cameras were set up at the Jennifer Matthew Nursing Home in Rochester, New York and the Northwoods Nursing Home in Cortland, New York.
These hidden cameras found one Rochester patient who had not been repositioned to avoid bedsores . He and others were left for hours lying in their own urine and waste while nurses were off socializing. Medications and treatments were not administered as prescribed.
Nursing home staff had moved call bells out of patients' reach and stopped doing their rounds in order to watch movies, sleep, or leave the building. Many nursing home employees were captured on camera falsifying records to make it seem they were providing required care.
Cameras were placed in patients' rooms with their relative's consent.
After discovering these appalling instances of nursing home abuse, 19 nursing home employees were arrested between the two facilities. Eight former licensed and certified Jennifer Matthews employees have plead guilty to nursing home neglect and falsifying records. Five Northwoods employees have been charged with felony record fraud and misdemeanor nursing home neglect and endangerment.
Spitzer has filed civil charges against both nursing homes, their primary owners and operators, and another consulting company. He is also trying to recover Medicaid funds—totaling over $10 million—for care that was not administered at these nursing home facilities. Spitzer will also look into state funding supplied to these nursing homes.
Nursing home abuse investigations continue state and nationwide.
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