State AG cracks down on nursing home abuse

ALBANY, N.Y. - Three western New York nursing home employees have been arrested and a fourth was convicted for abusing elderly and ill patients.

The NYS Attorney General Andrew Cuomo reports the acts of abuse include physically attacking and using racial slurs against an 86-year-old Alzheimer’s patient, slapping a 100-year-old patient in the face, and tying an elderly patient with dementia to a chair for two consecutive nights.

The arrests and conviction stem from Cuomo’s statewide investigations into abuse and neglect in institutional care settings.

Corey Austin, 28, of North Main Street, Angola, was a certified nurse aide at Gowanda Nursing Home until he was terminated in February, 2007 after a violent encounter with a patient. According to court papers, Austin used racial epithets and attacked the victim who had become agitated and defiant when another staff member tried to administer his medications. Austin assisted in taking the resident back to his room where he attacked and repeatedly pushed the resident to the floor. Austin continued to use racial epithets, while pinning the resident to his bed with his knee in the patient’s back.

Austin faces a maximum of two years in jail when he is sentenced on January 13, 2009.

Certified Nurse Aide Patricia Penman, 57, of Union Road, Cheektowaga, is accused of physically abusing a 100-year-old female resident of Rosa Coplon Jewish Home and Infirmary in Getzville. The resident is suffering from dementia, physical disabilities, and is unable to care for herself. According to court records, Penman slapped the resident in the face during care. Penman was charged with endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and willful violation of health laws. The resident did not sustain an injury.

Penman was arraigned in Amherst Town Court by Judge Geoffrey Klein and pleaded not guilty. She is due back in court on December 10, 2008.

Certified nurse aide Jeffrey Perry, 23, of Ball Hill Road, Forestville, allegedly tied an elderly resident with dementia to a chair with a belt for two consecutive nights on August 28 and 29, 2008 at the Gowanda Nursing Home. According to court records, the resident was found left alone in his room tied to a chair with the lights off on the second night. Licensed practical nurse Jeanette Sovereign, 45, of Meadow Lane, Eden, was working at the center during the time of the alleged incident.

She is accused of knowing that the incident occurred but not reporting it to the proper authorities.

Perry was charged with endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and willful violation of health laws.
Sovereign was charged with wilful violation of health laws. Both were arraigned in the Town of Persia Court by Judge Arnold Andolsek and pleaded not guilty. Both are due back in court on December 23, 2008.

Besides the arrests and conviction announced today, previous action taken by the Attorney General’s office against abuse and exploitation occurring in nursing homes has resulted in other arrests in western New York.:

•  Arrest of a certified nurse aide who stomped on an 84 year-oldfemale resident of Kaleida Health Deaconess Skilled Nursing Facility in Buffalo while the resident was lying in the fetal position.
•  Sentencing of a certified nurse aide who stole $8,000 from a 97-year-old resident at The Waters of Orchard Park nursing home in Orchard Park in order to pay a debt she owed for the purchase of cocaine.