RIDOH Suspends Healthcare Pro’s License After “Inappropriate” Relationship and Trespassing Arrest
GoLocalProv News Team
RIDOH Suspends Healthcare Pro’s License After “Inappropriate” Relationship and Trespassing Arrest
According to RIDOH, Melissa Cordeiro, a licensed nursing assistant, was arrested for trespassing at a patient's home in South Kingstown on August 24.
She was already on "active probation" with RIDOH since 2023.
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About Case
RIDOH, in its summary suspension, outlines what it says are "findings of fact and conclusion of law."
According to RIDOH, Cordeiro, a licensed nursing assistant, was already on "active probation" following a consent order from August of 2023.
"Under the terms of the Consent Order, [Cordeiro] must be employed at a hospital or nursing facility and may not be employed by an agency that provides home care," wrote RIDOH. "[Cordeiro] is currently employed at a nursing facility. The underlying factual basis for this Consent Order was [Cordeiro's] development of an inappropriate relationship with a patient."
RIDOH says Cordeiro was employed as a nursing assistant at a nursing facility where "A.G." was a patient from the fall of 2022 through July 2023.
"Prior to A.G.'s discharge from the nursing facility, [Cordeiro] established an inappropriate personal relationship with A.G. which ultimately led to [Cordeiro] moving into A.G.' s home in South Kingstown, Rhode Island in August 2023 and establishing herself as A.G.'s caretaker and friend," says RIDOH.
No Trespassing Order and Arrest
"[In] September 2023, A.G. moved to a rehabilitation center where she remained until April of 2024 when [Cordiero] removed A.G. from the facility and took her back to the South Kingstown home, where [Cordeiro] and A.G. continued to reside," wrote RIDOH.
RIDOH says that on May 26, 2024, a relative of A.G. "with ownership rights in the property" contacted the South Kingstown police, who responded to the property and issued a no-trespassing order to Cordeiro for the property.
"On June 7, 2024, Woonsocket police responded to [Cordeiro's] apartment for an A.G. wellness check and transported her to a hospital," says RIDOH. "On August 24, 2024, police responded to a report of [Cordeiro] being emotionally abusive to A.G. in the South Kingstown home. [Cordeiro] was arrested and charged with willful trespass. "
RIDOH says that later that same day, the police received a call that Cordeiro had returned to the South Kingston home and was attempting to "coerce A.G. into her car."
"The police again responded and found A.G. in [Corderio's] car on a nearby street. [Cordiero] was pulled over and arrested by the South Kingston police for willful trespass," according to RIDOH.
After considering the above facts, the RIDOH Director "found that public health, safety, and welfare imperatively requires emergency action."
Cordeiro's license is suspended until further order.
This story was first published 9/1/24 6:52 PM