The theft trial for the former administrator of the defunct Ronald Reagan Atrium I Nursing and Rehabilitation Center again has been postponed while she undergoes mental health testing at Mayview State Hospital.

The nonjury trial for Martha F. Bell, 61, of West Mifflin, who is charged with six counts of theft, was to have begun yesterday before Common Pleas Judge David R. Cashman. But the judge instead committed Mrs. Bell to Mayview for 90 days to address the mental illness or disability that Mrs. Bell, on a form and in court, said effectively prevented her from waiving her right to a jury trial.

In a stammering voice, Mrs. Bell told the judge yesterday that she is "under extreme duress'' due to health problems, including an untreated growth on her thyroid that she fears may be a reoccurrence of cancer.

Her trial previously was postponed Jan. 3 after one of Mrs. Bell's attorneys, W. Christopher Conrad, told the judge that Mrs. Bell's deteriorating health was preventing her from assisting with her defense and that the Allegheny County Jail, where she was being housed, could not fully treat her ailments. The judge permitted Mrs. Bell, who is a federal prisoner, to seek medical care in Pittsburgh, but ordered her to pay for deputies to guard her while she was in the hospital.

Mrs. Bell is charged with withdrawing more than $51,000 from an Atrium payroll account in 2003 following her arrest on other charges in the death of Atrium resident Mabel Taylor in 2001.

She is serving a five-year prison term after her conviction in 2005 on federal charges of health care fraud and making false statements about health care matters.