A tearful Gloria Diaz recalled yesterday the shock of seeing her bedridden mother hit repeatedly by an aide in a North Bergen nursing home, images caught on a hidden "granny cam" a day before the 87-year-old woman's death.

"Horrible, horrible," Diaz said in her lawyer's office in Jersey City, her first public comments since the aide's arrest March 16.

Despite visiting daily and knowing her mother's caregivers at the Harborage nursing home, Diaz said her mother was abused by a woman who was "like a co-worker and very friendly," someone who raised no suspicion.

Diaz discovered the abuse from a camera she hid in the room after she kept finding bruises on her mother and no one could give her answers.

Police said the video shows Julia Galvan, a 59-year-old North Bergen resident, slapping Modesta Alvarado's head, then delivering two more fierce blows on Jan. 15. Alvarado's eyes and mouth opened wide in reaction to the aide's abuse. Galvan is also seen on the video pulling off Alvarado's oxygen mask, attorney Eugene Horn said.

The elderly patient, who had suffered a stroke a year ago and couldn't move, was unable to defend herself, Horn said.

"They promise they will take care of a loved one if you are not able to," Horn said. "They promise dignity and safety and unfortunately, that was not the case."

Alvarado was found dead by staff less than 24 hours after the alleged attack was caught on tape. However, police said it did not cause her death, which was reviewed by the Hudson County Medical Examiner. Officials in that office referred questions to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, which did not return calls seeking comment yesterday.

Horn and Michael Ringold, a Marlton attorney, said they intend to file suit within 30 days. Diaz, of North Bergen, and her son, Eric Rodriquez, detailed the frustrating route that led them to buy online a camera hidden in a clock radio. The family said they questioned nursing home officials about bruises on Alvarado "many times, but nothing was ever done," Diaz said.

She said she then contacted a state Department of Health and Senior Services hotline. When a state official finally came to investigate, she said the official appeared in her mother's room, accompanied by nursing home staff.

"He didn't see any injuries on my mother," she said. That was the extent of the investigation, Diaz said.

Marilyn Riley, a health department spokeswoman, said officials could not comment because the case is under investigation.

Diaz said she continued to find bruises on her mother and installed the camera without the nursing home's permission.

"We had to take matters into our own hands," said Rodriquez, a Sayreville resident. "It was falling upon deaf ears." The family didn't watch the tape until after Alvarado's death. They then contacted police. A statement released by the nursing home yesterday said the center has "a zero tolerance policy with respect to the improper treatment of any of our residents."

"Subsequent to our reporting of this incident to the New Jersey Department of Health, they conducted an onsite review of the issue and determined that The Harborage was in compliance with all federal and state licensing regulations that apply," the statement continued.

Galvan's employment has been terminated, authorities said when the arrest was announced.

The Harborage, a 245-bed nursing home on River Road, was investigated by the state Department of Health in July 2009 and cited for violating the federal Nursing Home Reform Act. Full details of the complaint were not immediately available. Mary Jo Layton: layton@northjersey.com