In the wake of reports of the alleged abuse of a resident by a staff member at the New York State Veterans Home in Montrose, bipartisan elected officials are calling for New York Attorney General Letitia James and the state health department that runs the facility to open an investigation.

Leading the charge at Cortlandt Town Hall on Monday, June 22, were State Sens. Pete Harckham and Shelley Mayer, Assemblymembers Dana Levenberg and Matt Slater, and Cortlandt Councilman Robert Mayes.

Joining electeds was Angela Sangro, wife of veteran Albert O’Toole whose alleged abuse by aide Matthew Cox was caught after she placed a hidden camera in her husband’s room. O’Toole, 60, is originally from Peekskill and graduated from Peekskill High School.

Sangro said her husband, a Gulf War veteran reportedly left with a traumatic brain injury after an explosion and years later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, went into the state-run veterans home on Dec. 8. After disappointments with the administration, doctors and staff, Sangro said she decided to put a camera in his room on March 1. 

“On March 2, he was sent out to psych ER [at Phelps Hospital] for an evaluation. At that point, their social worker and doctor both had called me and asked if I had any suspicion that there might be any abuse,” Sangro said.

Upon checking the camera, Sangro discovered the alleged abuse. The footage, exclusive to News 12, showed what appeared to be an aide yanking food out of her husband’s hands, picking him up by his neck and throwing him in a chair, punching him in the side of the neck, and hitting him in the head with a broom. Her husband could be heard crying out in pain in the footage.

“When I called to report this to the nursing home and spoke with one of the administration members, the first thing she said to me was, ‘Well you can’t put a camera in the room.’” Sangro said. “And I said, ‘Why not?’ And she said, ‘Because, you know, the privacy of his roommate.’ And I then explained to her that he hasn’t had a roommate since December, so there was nothing to worry about. And they were just upset because I had caught them. Since then the reception that I get from anybody there is basically, ‘We said sorry, no big deal, moving on.’ They don’t want to talk about it.”

Sangro told the Peekskill Herald that once she brought the abuse to the attention of the nursing home, she did receive an email from the head of administration stating that they immediately released Cox and that they were sorry for what had happened.

Harckham, who represents Senate District 40, which includes Montrose, and serves on the veterans and homeland security committee, said he was outraged at the alleged abuse shown on the video.

“This is not just an isolated case,” Harckham said. “This cannot happen in a vacuum. Where is the supervision? Didn’t other people notice the bruising, the wounds, the behavior change? Someone’s got to notice this. We have heard all of us from our constituents, veterans who volunteer there, about staffing issues, about veterans being left in wheelchairs, in hallways, unattended, the shortage of activities. And so this is a symptom of a much larger issue that needs to be investigated, and it starts at the top.”

A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office confirmed to the Herald that its office has heard of this incident but did not comment further.

In a statement provided to the Herald, the Department of Health wrote, “The New York State Department of Health is outraged by the conduct of this former, part-time employee. No resident at any facility should be physically mistreated. Maintaining a safe environment for the residents and workers at this facility is our top priority. As soon as we became aware of this incident, the staff member was immediately put on leave, terminated after a review of the incident, and is facing criminal charges.”

When the incident occurred over three months ago, on March 1, the facility immediately reported it to the Office of Aging and Long-term Care and law enforcement, according to the Department of Health. The individual was a newer, probationary part-time employee with the Montrose Veterans Home at the time of the incident. All mandated background checks were performed and the employee had no prior record of any negative conduct, according to the department.

After the incident occurred the employee did not return to work, was placed on official administrative leave on March 4, and was officially terminated on March 26. The department said the facility has performed a comprehensive resident care review, provided additional training for all staff, and implemented new monitoring and auditing activities including reoccurring resident interviews regarding care.

The Board of Visitors is the volunteer body that oversees and reviews complaints and allegations, according to Sens. Mayer and Harckham.

Cox was arrested and fired. He reportedly still works for the VA in a non-patient role pending the outcome of the case.

Ellen Zawacki, a friend of Sangro who was present at the press conference, shared her reaction with the Herald to the alleged abuse caught on video.

“I was absolutely horrified,” Zawacki said. “My son worked with [O’Toole] at Bertolini’s Beer Distributors for a while. I’ve known Angela and Albert for a very long time, and to see that video just broke my heart. And because Angela does my hair now, I see her every month, and we’re good friends. And my heart just breaks for her. I can’t even imagine. I just hope the guy gets what he deserves, but it’s not just him. It’s the whole facility.”

Assemblywoman Levenberg called for a full investigation of not only the specific matter, but the entire home, adding they need to ensure staffing levels are up to snuff and that veterans are treated with respect. The call was echoed by Assemblyman Slater, who said the state needed to take a deeper look into the systemic failures that lead to abuses.

“No veteran should ever have to live through this ordeal,” Slater said. “Our veterans deserve the gold standard. And we talk about it a lot. We hear about it all the time and we really do appreciate it. But this is proving the fact that veterans in New York State, especially in this one particular nursing home, are not receiving the gold standard, and that is a failure of the system.”

Sangro said her husband was moved from a federal facility in Montrose to the state home. She said while she initially met with News 12, administrators moved her husband to a veterans affairs campus in the Bronx and “refused” to take him back.

“He does not remember who I am, most days he doesn’t remember who I am, and they took that away from me,” Sangro said. “I visited him every night in Montrose. When he went to the Bronx, I just couldn’t get there. And I could spend only a half an hour when I went. I did appeal the discharge and the judge ruled that they had to take him back… We’ve actively tried to get him out several times back over to the federal side where he did amazing.”

Sangro told the Herald after he was sent back on the afternoon of June 9, the following day he was in the emergency room for most of the evening after he fell and sustained a black eye.

“Currently he’s isolated on a wing, where there’s no residents. So he’s by himself with two security guards and two aides most of the day. I don’t know how he would fall,” Sangro said. “They only have one person to watch. I don’t know how this was a fall. They say he didn’t hit anything on the way down. I’ve asked for video footage. They said it wasn’t caught on camera, so unfortunately this is what I’ve been dealing with.”

During the press conference, Sangro gave thanks to the staff at Phelps Hospital for noticing the alleged abuse.

“I’ve never suspected any abuse, aside from the bumps and bruises,” Sangro said. “Anybody that I asked would say, ‘Oh, well he bumps into things all the time.’ So I just assumed it was him, and if it wasn’t for them pointing that out, I would have never checked that camera and would have never known…. I hope to one day get him out of there, and I hope with all this awareness now this can finally end.”