Cameras catch nursing home neglect

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. (WIVB) - Undercover cameras produced the evidence and now Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has charged nearly two dozen health care workers with failure to care for nursing home patients in Albany and Williamsville.

One-by-one they filed out of Amherst Town Court after answering to charges related to the way they they treated nursing home patients. The State Attorney General's office brought in hidden surveillance cameras to the Williamsville Suburban Nursing Home and to a nursing home in Troy, NY, where this video is from.

MORE ON THIS STORY:

>> View the official press release

>> View photos and names of those arrested in WNY

>> View the complaints lodged against Williamsville Suburban Nursing Home

>> View full nursing home's response to charges

After investigating for seven weeks, the office charged 14 workers in Troy and eight here in Williamsville. Five of them are certified nurses aides charged with endangering the welfare of a disabled person for routinely failing to transfer patients out of bed, or provide insulin, or provide range of motion exercises. Two Licensed practical nurses face felony charges of falsifying records to cover it up.

Jeanette Hejna, who has an aunt in nursing home, said, "When you put a loved one in a nursing home, you expect that kind of care, and when you don't get it, the law should come into affect for them."

The nursing home's president released a statement saying:
"There was no harm caused to any resident as a result of the alleged conduct. Williamsville Suburban has suspended seven of the eight employees pending the outcome of the matter and the eighth is no longer employed."

The statement goes on to say:
"Williamsville Suburban had no knowledge of the alleged improper conduct and is cooperating fully with the state."

Hejna said, "The management should take responsibility for what has happened here and these employees should've been checked and they should've been thoroughly supervised."