Former Bedford VA Nursing Assistant Sentenced for Making False Statements

BOSTON – A former nursing assistant at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Bedford was sentenced today 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 by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to one year of probation. In July 2019, Waible was charged and agreed to plead guilty to two counts of making false statements.

On July 3, 2016, Waible, a nursing assistant at the time, worked the overnight shift 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.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Sean Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Criminal Investigations Division, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda P.M. Strachan, Chief of Lelling’s Health Care Fraud Unit, and William B. Brady, also of Lelling’s Health Care Fraud Unit, prosecuted the case.