The state Department of Health recently released a set of lists naming health care professionals who were sanctioned with official actions in August and September. In Southwest Washington, actions were taken toward health care workers in Lewis, Thurston, Clark and Pierce counties.
This is a sampling of the complete list provided by the Department of Health:
Lewis County
The secretary of health ended probation for agency-affiliated counselor Brandon Perry Seeger.
Thurston County
Ashlyn A. Gray, a registered nursing assistant, was charged with unprofessional conduct by the Nursing Assistant Program. Charges state that Gray was arrested twice in 2016 on suspicion of theft. During an investigation, Gray allegedly told a Department of Health investigator that she planned to undergo chemical dependency treatment and cited heroin use as a factor in her arrests.
Maria C. Ramirez, a registered nursing assistant, was charged with unprofessional conduct by the Nursing Assistant Program. Officials alleged that while Ramirez was working at an assisted living facility she deposited or attempted to deposit at least seven checks worth about $5,867 that were made out to her from the account of an elderly resident. Ramirez allegedly admitted to police she stole and forged at least five of the checks.
Pierce County
Shauna Marie Schipper, a registered nurse, was charged with unprofessional conduct by the Nursing Commission. Schipper is accused of diverting narcotics from a hospital where she was employed. The charges allege that Schipper took home left-over pain medication instead of properly disposing of it. She is also accused of diverting additional stocks of drugs and then attempting to replace the supply with sterile saline solution.
Scott Edward Bateman, a chemical dependency professional, was charged with unprofessional conduct by the Chemical Dependency Professional Program. The charges alleged that when a client on court-ordered probation informed Bateman that her drug test would return positive for heroin and other prohibited substances he told her the results would not be reported to authorities. An investigation confirmed that Bateman failed to file a report. Instead, he allegedly submitted falsified records that incorrectly implied that the client was in compliance.
The secretary of health ended probation for Michael Alan Clark Jr., a chemical dependency professional trainee.
Paisley Anne Marks was denied a massage therapist credential by the secretary of health. In 2014, Marks was convicted in Georgia of prostitution and keeping a place of prostitution.
Julianna Teresa Jackson, a agency-affiliated counselor and registered nursing assistant, was charged with unprofessional conduct by the Agency-Affiliated Counselor and Nursing Assistant programs. The charges alleged that while Jackson was employed at Western State Hospital she engaged in behaviors that were outside the boundaries of a normal professional patent-counselor relationship. Jackson allegedly told a patient’s mother that she loved the patient and “cannot wait until the day he gets out.” The charges state that Jackson had sexual contact with the patient.
Clark County
Jerry. J. Fisher, a physician, was charged with unprofessional conduct by the Medical Commission. Charges indicate that Fisher’s management of eight chronic pain patients “violated the standard of care by failure to adequately monitor treatment, failure to appropriately evaluate and respond to risk factors and signs of addiction, abuse or other medical complications, and failure to adequately evaluate the efficacy of opioid therapy and failure to maintain adequate treatment records.”
The secretary of health granted Vitauas Lapinskas a conditional radiologic technologist credential and ordered him to participate in substance abuse monitoring. In 2012, Lapinskas was convicted of negligent driving. In 2015, he received deferred prosecution on a driving under the influence charge.
The Health Systems Quality Assurance Division works with boards, commissions and advisory committees in order to set licensing standards for more than 80 health care professions, ranging from medical doctors to veterinarians. Health care workers charged with unprofessional conduct have 20 days to respond to the Department of Health in writing in order to trigger a settlement process.
Information about health care providers is available on the DOH website at doh.wa.gov. Visitors to the website should click on the “How Do I” section for more information. The site includes detailed information about the license status of health care workers, including the expiration and renewal date of their credential, disciplinary actions and copies of legal documents issued after July 1998. The information is also available by calling 360-236-4700.
