Nurse Aide Pleads Guilty To Beating 85-year-old Patient

Attorney General Spitzer announced today the conviction of an Erie County nursing home aide accused of beating and kicking an 85-year-old patient, breaking three of his ribs. The conviction is the second obtained by Spitzer under a new state statute known as Kathy's Law, which makes "Endangering the Welfare of a Vulnerable Elderly Person" a felony.

Ronald S. Blackwell, 30, a certified nurse's aide at St. Andrews Presbyterian Manor in Buffalo has pled guilty to the crime before Supreme Court Judge Michael Pietruzska. Under the terms of the plea, Blackwell faces at least six months in jail and five year's probation.

The patient under Blackwell's care suffers from a bad heart and dementia. He was discovered lying on his back, his face covered with blood on February 7, 1999.

"We will not tolerate abuse of our senior citizens," said Spitzer. "My office will fully and vigorously enforce Kathy's Law."

Prior to the enactment of Kathy's Law, Blackwell could only have been convicted of a misdemeanor for endangering the welfare of the vulnerable elderly patient. Kathy's Law was enacted in November 1998 after a comatose patient was raped by an aide in a Rochester nursing home.

Blackwell, who initially denied beating his patient, worked as a nurse's aide at two other area nursing homes before being hired at St. Andrews in September, 1998. His handwritten admission to nursing home officials one day after the incident states the following:

"I struck him in the head, I kicked his shins, and I kicked him in the chest."

On July 14, 1999, Blackwell was indicted on six counts, including two counts of Assault in the Second Degree and two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Vulnerable Elderly Person in the First Degree.

There are more than 1,000 cases a year of abuse of elderly patients by workers in health care facilities in New York. Spitzer's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is dedicated exclusively to the investigation and prosecution of health care crime in New York State, including cases of patient abuse in nursing homes which receive Medicaid funds.

The case is being handled by Special Assistant Attorneys General Michael T. Kelly and Gary A. Baldauf of Spitzer's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. All cases are filed under the direct supervision of Deputy Attorney General Jose Maldonado.

Sentencing is scheduled for January 18, 2000 at 9:30 a.m.

Relevant Case Information

Name: Ronald S. Blackwell
DOB: 12/7/69
Home Address: 888 Richmond Avenue, Buffalo 14222
Nursing Home: St. Andrews Presbyterian Nursing Home
1205 Delaware Avenue, 14209
Plea: Endangering the Welfare of a Vulnerable Elderly Person in the Second Degree -- "E" Felony.