Fourteen New York Nursing Home Staff Charged With Resident Abuse
On March 31, 2010, fourteen nurses and nurse aides at Northwoods Rehabilitation and Extended Care Facility, located outside of Troy, New York were charged with endangering the welfare of a resident plus felony falsification of business records. They were also charged with multiple misdemeanor violations of health laws.
Using video surveillance, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo showed a six week period of alleged neglect of the resident. According to a news release from Cuomo's office, the staff "routinely failed to turn and position an immobile resident, often leaving the resident in the same position for an entire shift. Nursing staff failed to administer medications, as well as treat the resident's bed sores. The footage also revealed that the aides charged failed to check the resident for incontinence or change undergarments for long periods of time." The report continued, saying, "In addition, the resident's medical records show that the defendants falsified medical records to conceal their neglect. A physician assistant also created a phony record of an annual medical exam that never happened."
Six LPNs, seven CNAs, and a physician assistant were charged on March 31, 2010.
Nine nurses and nurse aides currently working at the facility are being suspended until the charges are resolved.
Northwoods is no stranger to problems at the facility. The facility lost federal funding last year after facility workers routinely ignored the patient assistance buzzer. In January 2010, a male nurse aide at the facility pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 78 year old female resident in 2008.
