Sarina Francis Broke The Arm Of An Elderly Patient In Her Care
Schneiderman: Those Who Abuse Our Most Vulnerable Citizens Will Be Held Accountable
ALBANY-- Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the guilty plea of Sarina Francis, in connection with the abuse of a nursing home resident in August 2013, while Ms. Francis was employed as a Certified Nurse’s Aide at the Hudson Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center located at 325 Northern Boulevard in Albany, N.Y.
Francis, 36, of 63 Fifth Avenue, Troy, N.Y., pleaded guilty yesterday in Albany County Court before the Honorable Peter Lynch 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.
“When families make the difficult decision to place the care of their loved ones in the hands of a nursing home, there’s an expectation that they will be shown compassion and respect—not physical abuse and neglect,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “Those who exhibit a blatant disregard for these responsibilities will be held accountable under the law.”
Francis admitted that on August 17, 2013, she physically abused an elderly resident of Hudson Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. While taking the resident to her room, Francis grabbed her by the wrist and twisted the resident’s arm behind her head, resulting in the victim suffering a fracture to her left distal ulna.
Francis is scheduled to be sentenced on March 10, 2014, to an expected 30 days in the Albany County Jail and 5 years’ probation. The charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
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 Albany Regional Office, under the Supervision of Regional Director Kathleen A. Boland and Chief of Criminal Investigations - Upstate Catherine Wagner.