Four Woodmere Rehab nurses arrested

Failed to properly monitor a disabled patient

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Four nurses who worked at the Woodmere Rehabilitation and Health Care Center located between Irving and Franklin places in Woodmere were arrested by the New York State Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit on June 10.
The nurses failed to monitor a disabled patient as ordered by the patient’s doctor during June 1 to 9, 2012 , said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The patient fell and was injured.
Riadel Manzano, 43, of East Williston, Rodel Placino, 44, of Hewlett, Marrianne Borromeo, 41, of Woodside, and Benetia Johnson, 25, of St. Albans, allegedly falsely documented or instructed others to falsely document that a disabled nursing home resident had been monitored every thirty minutes for his safety, as ordered by his physician after a series of falls, when in reality the resident was not monitored as required, according to court filings.
While not being monitored, the resident fell and struck his head, resulting in a deep cut which required him to be hospitalized and receive staples. After going back to the rehab center the next day, he was found sitting on the floor and was again hospitalized with respiratory failure and pulmonary edema.
“The charges in this case allege a shocking level of neglect and mistreatment, which caused serious injury to a patient,” Schneiderman said in a prepared release. “We have no tolerance for nursing home employees who fail to provide responsible care to patients in need. New Yorkers must know that their loved ones in nursing facilities are safe and being cared for by trustworthy individuals.”
All four were charged with falsifying business records in the first degree, a class E felony. Manzano, the former director of Nursing Services at Woodmere who supervised the other defendants at the time, was also charged with offering a false instrument for filing in the First Degree and tampering With physical Evidence, both of which are class E felonies. The four defendants were arraigned before Judge Paul Meli in First District Court in Hempstead. The cases of Manzano, Placino and Borromeo were adjourned for conferences on June 16, and the case for Johnson was adjourned until June 22.