Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General of the State of New York, with the permission of family members, had hidden surveillance cameras placed in residents’ rooms in nursing homes and long term care facilities throughout New York, in order to determine whether or not nursing home abuse was taking place.
What came of it? Fourteen arrests at the Northwoods Rehabilitation and Extended Care Facility in Troy, and 8 arrests at the Williamsville Suburban Nursing Home in Amherst.
“With the consent of family members, we put hidden cameras in nursing homes across the state, watching over the vulnerable who often cannot advocate for themselves,” said Attorney General Cuomo.
“My office is strongly committed to using all the tools at our disposal to make sure people are getting the medical treatment and the care they deserve”.
Northwoods Rehabilitation and Extended Care Facility
At Northwoods, one residents received horrid care from his caregivers. Nursing staff failed to rotate him on a regular basis, often leaving him in the same position for an entire shift. They failed to medicate him or treat the bedsores that resulted from their failure to move his body, and they falsified medical charts to cover up their abusive and negligent care.
They also failed to check him for incontinence, and went days without changing his clothes or undergarments. A physician’s assistant also created phony medical records for an annual exam that never took place.
Williamsville Suburban Nursing Home
At Williamsville Suburban Nursing Home, staff were found to be failing on many of the same counts; rotating bed-ridden patients, not treating bedsores, not administering medication. They were also found to be incorrectly transferring residents from bed to chair, putting those residents in danger. And caretakers at Williamsville were also falsifying medical charts to cover-up subpar nursing care.
Arrests and Charges
All together, 8 Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) and 8 Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) are being charged with Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, a class E Felony. Five LPNs and five CNAs are also being charged with Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Disabled Person, a class A Misdemeanor.
Nursing Home Abuse in New Jersey
Nursing home abuse and neglect are just as common in New Jersey, but we don’t have hidden cameras in all of our nursing homes to catch it. That is why we have to report instances of nursing home abuse to the state ombudsman, even if we have just an inkling that nursing home abuse is taking place.
Also, be sure to seek the help of a nursing home abuse attorney.
Contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. Our nursing home abuse attorneys will be able to analyze the care your loved one received, and determine whether or not nursing home abuse did, in fact, occur. If so, our team will fight to get you the compensation you deserve.
You can also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.