CNY Psychiatric Center employee charged with falsifying report to obtain workers’-comp benefits

MARCY, N.Y. — New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott today announced the arrest of an employee of the Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy who falsified an incident report to fraudulently obtain workers’-compensation benefits by declaring she was “violently attacked” by a patient.

The employee was, in fact, the aggressor, lunged at the patient, and “knocked the patient to the ground” during an argument, Leahy Scott said in a news release.

Wendy Jarvis, 51, of Cold Brook in Herkimer County, was charged today with endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person in the first degree, offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, and the workers’-compensation crime of fraudulent practices — all felonies, according to Leahy Scott’s office.

The inspector general’s investigation found that in late March, Jarvis, a security hospital treatment assistant, lunged at the patient in her care and subsequently knocked the patient to the ground. Jarvis then filed an incident report with the psychiatric center “falsely asserting” in writing that the patient assaulted her and “fought violently with staff” in order to back up her claim for workers’-compensation benefits, the state alleges. The charges are based on witness interviews and a review of video recordings from the psychiatric center.

“This attack on a patient who relies on facility employees for their everyday needs, and who remains under the care of the State, was disgraceful and unforgiveable, as was her attempt to falsify records in order to enrich herself,” Inspector General Leahy Scott said in the news release.

Jarvis was arraigned in Marcy Town Court and released with a reappearance date of June 8 for further court action.

The Central New York Psychiatric Center, located in Marcy, is a 220-bed maximum security inpatient facility.

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