Nursing Home Neglect Being Caught By Hidden Video Cameras
New York state investigators have been using hidden video cameras to investigate allegations of neglect and abuse at nursing homes in the state, and the cameras are revealing significant instances of such criminal behavior on the part of staff and caregivers.
A Rochester, New York nursing home has been the latest site of a hidden-camera probe by the New York Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigators. Fourteen employees of the Jennifer Matthew Nursing and Rehabilitation Center have been charged with neglecting the same resident, a bedridden 70-year-old man with dementia.
Resident Left Lying in Urine for Hours
The employees’ duty to care for the resident was evidenced by the videotapes, which showed the man left lying in his own feces and urine for hours at a time. The staff was supposed to keep the residents clean and turn and reposition bedridden patients every two hours to prevent bedsores and skin breakdown. The 14 employees not only failed to take care of this resident but also regularly falsified his medical care records to indicate that they had given him proper care.
AG’s Lawsuit to Recover Medicaid Payments
In addition to the ten Jennifer Matthews employees who have pleaded guilty, another four employees (including a registered nurse and three nurse’s aides) are scheduled for trial on September 4. The nursing home’s corporate owner and its CEO are also facing a civil lawsuit by the attorney general. The suit seeks recovery of the more than $10 million in Medicaid paid to the facility, in light of inadequate care.
Neglect Videotaped at Other Nursing Homes
Hidden-camera investigations of the Hollis Park Manor nursing home in Queens and The Northwoods rehabilitation facility in Cortland have also resulted in arrests for abuse, neglect, and records falsification — 30 arrests in all. The nurse’s aide who is the latest Jennifer Matthews employee to plead guilty to criminal charges was sentenced to 14 weekends in the Monroe County jail.
The Attorney General’s office places the cameras after getting permission from a resident’s family, following complaints by the family of nursing home neglect or abuse.