Woodmere rehab nurse faces license revocation

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Former Woodmere Rehabilitation and Health Care Center nurse Riadel Manzano, 45, of East Williston, was sentenced to a conditional discharge by Nassau County Court Judge Meryl Berkowitz on Aug. 15.

Manzano will now automatically be barred from working in any government-funded health care programs and faces the revocation of her nursing license by the New York State Office of Professional Discipline.

After a six-day jury trial, she was found guilty on Jan. 25, of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, a felony, for providing a New York State Department Of Health investigator with a record that she knew falsely reflected that nursing staff at Woodmere Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Woodmere had properly monitored a resident of the center who had been seriously injured after repeated falls.


While he was not being monitored, he fell and struck his head, resulting in a laceration that required him to be hospitalized and receive staples to his scalp. After being returned to the rehab center, the following day the resident was found sitting on the floor and was again hospitalized with respiratory failure and pulmonary edema.

“Nursing home managers are entrusted to provide the highest level of safety and care to residents,” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a news release. “There is no excuse for lying in order to cover up the abuse and neglect of elderly and vulnerable New Yorkers. We will not hesitate to fully prosecute nursing home executives who betray the well-being of those under their care and prioritize their own self-interest.”

Three other former rehab employees, two registered nurses and a licensed practical nurse, cooperated with the Attorney General’s Office and previously entered guilty pleas in connection with this incident — Rodel Placino, from Hewlett, Mariane Borromeo, of Woodside, and Benetia Johnson, of St. Albans.