Nursing home worker accused of drug theft

April 18--The employee of an Altoona nursing home is accused of diverting narcotics from residents and keeping them for herself.

Sylvia L. Henry was fired from River Pines and later told authorities she had an addiction to painkillers for at least six months.

Henry, 47, 3224 Midway St., Eau Claire, was charged Tuesday in Eau Claire County Court with 11 felony and misdemeanor charges. including intentionally subjecting an individual at risk to abuse, theft, imitation of a controlled substance, possession of narcotic drugs and obtaining a prescription drug with fraud.

Henry is scheduled to make her initial court appearance April 25.

According to the criminal complaint:

Police met with the director of nursing at River Pines, 206 N. Willson Drive, on Jan. 20 after a nurse training with Henry witnessed Henry diverting narcotics.

Henry was brought to the office. She admitted to diverting narcotics but didn't state the amount of drugs she took or how long she had been doing it.

Henry claimed to the nursing director that she gave the narcotics to her son because he is an addict and becomes violent toward her.

The nurse trainee said when she worked with Henry, residents complained of pain even after Henry gave them their medication.

But when training with other nurses, the trainee said the same residents were not complaining of pain after receiving pain medication.

An investigation showed that instead of giving residents scheduled doses of hydrocodone or Percocet, Henry was giving them Tylenol.

Henry was in charge of the narcotics cart, and all medications were signed off and dispensed by Henry to the nurses for administering to the patients.

When Henry was informed of her firing by a phone call on Jan. 23, the director of nursing said Henry's speech was largely unintelligible. The nursing director told police she wasn't sure if Henry understood she was being fired.

Police officers were sent to Henry's residence for a welfare check. Henry told the officers she believed they were there to arrest her regarding this case.

It was at this meeting with officers that she admitted to her addiction to painkillers.

According to records from the Eau Claire County district attorney's office, Henry was previously referred by the Fall Creek Police Department for stealing prescription medication. The victim was listed as Fall Creek Valley Care Center.

If convicted of the felony charges, Henry could be sentenced to up to 16 years in prison.

Contact: 715-833-9207, dan.holtz@ecpc.com

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