Nurse's Aide Charged With Abusing

Attorney General Spitzer today announced that a nurse's aide at a Far Rockaway nursing home has been arrested for abusing an elderly male patient at the facility.

Patricia Faison, 42, of 455 Beach 36 Street in Far Rockaway, was arraigned last night in Queens County Court on a two-count complaint. She was charged with Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person and Wilful Violation of Health Laws. If convicted, Faison faces up to one year in prison.

According to the complaint filed in the case, while working at Peninsula Center for Extended Care and Rehabilitation on April 2, 2002, Faison and another employee tied a disposable glove around the penis of the 68-year-old stroke victim at approximately 9:30 a.m. Faison allegedly did this because the patient, who is unable to speak or articulate pain, is incontinent and they were trying to prevent him from urinating. It is charged that Faison left the facility at the end of her shift at 3:00 p.m. The glove was discovered on the patient at 9:30 p.m. that night, twelve hours after the incident occurred.

Spitzer thanked the state Health Department for referring the matter to his office. He also thanked the administration and staff of the nursing home for their cooperation and assistance in the investigation.

Faison worked at Peninsula Center for Extended Care and Rehabilitation, which is located at 50-15 Beach Channel Drive in Far Rockaway, Queens, from November 22, 1999, until her termination on April 4, 2002.

Special Assistant Attorney General Cassandra Bethel, of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit's New York City Regional Office, is prosecuting the case, with the assistance of Senior Special Investigator Thomas Creelman.

The charges against Faison are mere accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.