Nurse Admits To Neglecting Patient At Rochester-area Nursing Home

Attorney General Spitzer today announced that Frances Mann, a licensed practical nurse formerly employed at the Westgate Nursing Home in Gates, has admitted to neglecting the medical needs of an elderly male patient at the facility last December.

Appearing last night before Gates Town Court Judge John Rivoli, Mann pleaded guilty to the crime of Wilful Violation of Health Laws in satisfaction of the fourteen charges pending against her.

Judge Rivoli set sentencing for December 4th, and indicated that Mann faces up to sixty days in jail.

Spitzer said, "The defendant was entrusted with the care of our most vulnerable citizens, and she showed little concern for their well-being. It is obvious, based on her actions, that she should never again be permitted to work with patients in a health care setting."

The Attorney General noted that his office has referred the case to the State Education Department's Office of the Professions for a review of Mann's nursing license.

Arrested in June, Mann was charged with failing to clean a wound and apply a new dressing to the foot of a 76-year-old patient. She was also accused of failing to administer blood glucose tests to three other elderly patients. In each instance, Mann falsified the patients' medical records, either by indicating that she had changed the dressing or by entering a false blood glucose count reading. The incidents took place between December 22, 1999, and January 3, 2000.

Frances Mann, 40, lives at 37 High Manor Drive in Henrietta. She was employed by Westgate Nursing Home from October 1999 to January 2000.

Special Assistant Attorney General Timothy J. McFarland, of the Rochester Regional Office of the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, prosecuted the case. All cases are handled under the direct supervision of Deputy Attorney General Jos? Maldonado.