Former Bedford VA Nursing Asst. Sentenced For False Statements

BEDFORD, MA — A former nursing assistant at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Bedford was sentenced on Friday in federal court in Boston for making false statements to federal agents in connection with an investigation of a patient’s death.

Patricia A. Waible, 52, of Nashua, N.H., was sentenced to one year of probation. In July 2019, Waible was charged and agreed to plead guilty to two counts of making false statements.

While Waible was a nursing assistant in 2016 she worked an over night shift on July 3, from midnight to 8:00 a.m. at the Bedford VA’s nursing home unit.

During the shift, Waible’s responsibilities included conducting hourly bed checks. Early that morning, a patient who suffered from several serious medical ailments was found unresponsive and not breathing. The patient was transferred by ambulance to an emergency room, where he was later pronounced dead. During the ensuing investigation, on two separate occasions, Waible falsely stated to federal agents that she had conducted the hourly checks on the patient during her shift.