Albany, NY - March 10, 2014 - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the sentencing of Sarina Francis, a certified nurse's aide at the Hudson Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Albany, who fractured the arm of an elderly nursing home patient. Francis twisted the patient's arm after a confrontation.
"Families put significant trust in nursing homes and their staff when they are chosen to provide care for loved ones," said Attorney General Schneiderman. “My office will hold people accountable when patients are mistreated or neglected."
On January 13, 2014, Francis pleaded guilty to one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Vulnerable Elderly Person or an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person in the Second Degree in violation §260.32(2) of the Penal Law, a class E felony.
Francis admitted that on August 17, 2013, she physically abused an elderly resident of the Hudson Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. While Francis was taking the resident to her room, the resident became combative and struck her in the face. In response, Francis grabbed the resident by the wrist and twisted the resident’s arm behind her head, resulting in a fracture to the resident's left distal ulna.
Francis, 36, of Troy, was sentenced by the Honorable Peter Lynch in Albany County Court to 30 days in the Albany County Jail and five years’ probation. Francis will also surrender her certified nurses' aide certificate.
The case was investigated by Special Investigators John Jurs, Jr. and Jeffrey Haber, and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Paul A. Clyne of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’s (MFCU) Albany Regional Office. Katheen A. Boland is the Regional Director of the MFCU Albany Office. and Catherine Wagner is the Chief of Criminal Investigations-Upstate. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is led by Acting MFCU Director Amy Held. The Division of Criminal Justice is led by Executive Deputy Attorney General Kelly Donovan.