Nurse Assaults Elderly Wheelchair-bound Patient At Westchester Nursing Home

Attorney General Spitzer today announced that a licensed practical nurse at a Yorktown Heights nursing home has been arrested for assaulting an elderly female patient while administering medication to her.

Arlene Day, 56, of 2964 Williamsbridge Road in the Bronx, was arraigned last night in Yorktown Justice Court on an Information charging her with one count of Assault in the Third Degree, one count of Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person, and two counts of Wilful Violation of Health Laws. If convicted, she faces up to one year in prison.
According to prosecutors, while working at the Field Home Holy Comforter Nursing Home on April 11, 2003, Day was assigned to give medication to an 89-year-old, wheelchair-bound patient suffering from Alzheimer's disease and dementia. According to the charges filed in the case, when the patient refused to take her medication Day assaulted the patient by fracturing a finger on her right hand and injuring three other fingers. It is further charged that Day then forced the medication into the patient's mouth against her will.

Day worked at Field Home Holy Comforter Nursing Home, located at Catherine Street in Yorktown Heights, from June 19, 2000, until her termination on April 30, 2003.

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

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.

Special Assistant Attorney General Anne Jardine, of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit's Pearl River Regional Office, is prosecuting the case. Assisting in the investigation was Special Investigator Frank Fizzinoglia.