October 11, 2007

Governor Eliot Spitzer

State Capitol

Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Spitzer:

On behalf of the 35,000 registered nurse members of the New York State Nurses Association, I am writing to urge you to appoint an independent special prosecutor to oversee the criminal case in Suffolk County where 10 immigrant nurses have been charged with patient endangerment for quitting their jobs with the SentosaCare Agency.

These RNs were among 27 nurses brought to the U.S. from the Philippines by the Sentosa Recruitment Agency in November 2005. They resigned from their positions five months later because they said the agency had lied to them, exploited them, and forced them to work under conditions that were unsafe for both themselves and their patients.

The Nurses Association has been working on behalf of the “Sentosa 27” since April 2006. For example, we asked the State Board for Nursing to expedite the review of professional misconduct charges filed against the nurses by their former employer after their resignation.

Despite being cleared of these charges by the State Board for Nursing, the 10 RNs who worked at the Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Health Care Center are being prosecuted by the Suffolk County District Attorney on charges of patient endangerment. The Nurses Association knows of no other case where nurses have been indicted for endangering patients when no patient harm has occurred.

As was revealed in a series of stories in Newsday, there are close personal, political, and financial endorsement relationships among the owner of SentosaCare, Mr. Bent Philipson; the Suffolk County District Attorney, Mr. Thomas Spota; and U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. We believe this warrants the appointment of a special prosecutor to ensure a fair hearing for these immigrant nurses.

On behalf of the “Avalon 10” nurses and all registered nurses, we strongly urge the granting of this request for an independent special prosecutor.

Sincerely,

Tina Gerardi, MS, RN, CAE

Chief Executive Officer