Doctor and senior woman wearing facemasks during coronavirus and flu outbreak. Virus protection. COVID-2019..

New York State Department of Health partly suspended Medicaid and Medicare payments to Bishop Charles Waldo MacLean Episcopal Nursing Home in Queens where a resident with Alzheimer’s died last week after she was found on the roof.

The suspension affects only new patients, and violations must be corrected before the money is fueled back into the home. State inspectors spent seven days monitoring the home’s activities.

The department of health said in a statement that the home had “widespread lapses in policies and protocols to prevent residents from wandering within the facility” and leaving the building.

Lillie Gardner died from exposure after spending hours on the home’s roof. Ms. Gardner’s family has allegedly blamed the nursing home for negligence. High-profile incidents involving wanderers such as this, in Florida and in other places in recent weeks have made drawn much attention nationally, underscoring the difficulty of monitoring certain types of long-term care residents.