Supporting Safer Healthcare

Apparently the light of healthcare transparency and accountability has not yet made its way to West Texas.

Two West Texas nurses were fired from their jobs and indicted with a third-degree felony, carrying potential penalties of imprisonment and a maximum fine of $10,000. The charge is “misuse of official information.”

This case is creating a fire storm reaction among nurses and patient advocates nationwide.  If the facts of the matter are being accurately recounted, the storm has just begun.

The August 3, 2009 Austin American Statesman published a commentary regarding the case of Anne Mitchell, RN, Vicki Galle, RN, and Winkler Hospital in Kermit, Texas.  The nurses reportedly had concerns about a doctor practicing at Winkler County Memorial Hospital in Kermit, and following the chain of command at the small rural hospital got them nowhere.  They therefore wrote an anonymous letter to the Texas Medical Board and included six medical record numbers of the hospital patients involved.

When the medical board notified the physician that he was under investigation for mistreatment and poor quality of care, he filed a harassment complaint with the Winkler County Sheriff’s Department.

The sheriff launched an investigation in the hospital in order to find out who made the anonymous complaint.  He obtained a search warrant, seized the nurse’s work computers, and found a copy of the letter to the medical board on one of them.  Felony charges were filed and the nurses were fired.

On July 17 the Texas Nurses Association responded by establishing a legal defense fund for the nurses, and filing a formal complaint with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) against the Winkler County Memorial Hospital of Kermit, TX.  TNA issued a statement that says in part, ““The Nursing Practice Act, a Texas statute, gives registered nurses the right to report a licensed health care practitioner, agency or facility if they have reasonable belief (cause) that their patient may be exposed to harm.”

The Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog reports that the Texas Medical Board wrote a letter to the Winkler County and District Attorneys stating that it is improper to criminally prosecute people for raising complaints with the Texas Medical Board; that the complaints were confidential and not subject to subpoena; and that under federal law the Texas Medical Board is exempt from Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements, so there was no violation of any HIPAA laws.

Healthcare and law enforcement in Winkler County Texas are no doubt feeling some well-deserved heat in the glare of the national spotlight. As the American Nurses Association stated, “The world is watching.”

Update 8/6/09 – Two Former Winkler County Nurses Appear Before A Judge

Update 2/10/10 – New York Times Editorial - Medical Justice, West Texas Style 

Update 2/11/10 – The Criminal Trial of Anne Mitchell, R.N.