State investigating video of sleeping nurse at Auburn nursing home

Auburn Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

Kevin Rivoli, The Citizen

By David Wilcox

The New York State Department of Health is investigating a video that appears to show a nurse asleep while standing and working at Auburn Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Sunday.

Jeffrey Hammond, the department's deputy director of communications, confirmed the investigation to The Citizen on Wednesday.

"The (department) has made it a top priority to hold nursing homes accountable for the quality of care they provide," he said.

Hammond declined further comment due to the investigation being open. But he encouraged nursing home residents and their families to share complaints or concerns with the department's Centralized Complaint Intake Unit at health.ny.gov/facilities/nursing/complaints.htm or 1-888-201-4563. Complaints are kept confidential, and the outcomes of reviews are shared with complainants. 

According to state Department of Health records, the nursing home was the subject of 62 complaints between Feb. 1, 2019, and Jan. 31 of this year. It had 75 complaints and 10.9 citations per 100 occupied beds, compared to the state averages of 49.9 and 2.6, respectively. The nursing home was fined $17,000 last July for allowing two staff unvaccinated against COVID-19 to work there.

The 92-bed nursing home at 85 Thornton Ave. is also continuing its own investigation into the video, Administrator Judson MacCaull told The Citizen on Wednesday. He declined comment on the current employment status of the nurse depicted in it. He also said the certified nursing assistant who recorded and posted the video on Facebook, Alexxis McNeil, is still employed by the nursing home.

"Once the investigation is complete and we have an opportunity to carefully consider the findings, we will make personnel decisions in accordance with the law and consistent with our commitment to the health and safety of our residents and staff," MacCaull said. "We appreciate your understanding of the need for a fair and complete review and to avoid premature speculation or rushes to judgment."

McNeil, however, told The Citizen she was informed by the nursing home's human resources department that sharing the video publicly violated HIPAA, the federal law restricting the release of medical information. Upon being told she would be fired as a result, McNeil instead quit, she said. To the best of her knowledge, she is no longer an employee of the nursing home.

McNeil's video, which she posted Tuesday morning, has been viewed more than 450,000 times and shared more than 5,700.

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State investigating video of sleeping nurse at Auburn nursing home