A second St. Anthony Central nurse is facing drug-pilfering charges, the hospital’s parent company, Centura Health, said in a statement Wednesday evening.
Mary Katherine Madill, 55, of Golden, a former emergency-room nurse, was arrested Wednesday afternoon on suspicion of stealing the powerful painkiller fentanyl.
She was an employee of the hospital for 30 years, said Bev Lilly, a Centura spokeswoman.
Madill was booked into the Denver jail on a charge of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit and was released on a $3,000 bond.
Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver district attorney’s office, said the case is under investigation but does not immediately appear to be related to the July 16 arrest of Jillian Fischer, 43, a nurse in St. Anthony’s neuro/trauma unit.
Fischer is accused of stealing fentanyl and other painkillers, including Vicodin and morphine.
The St. Anthony cases follow drug charges against former Rose Medical Center surgical technician Kristen Diane Parker, who is accused of injecting herself with the painkiller fentanyl, then returning the dirty syringes filled with saline.
Nineteen people, so far, have contracted hepatitis C as a result of surgery at Rose and Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center in Colorado Springs, where Parker worked after she was fired from Rose in April, according to prosecutors.
“What this highlights is that this is unfortunately not a completely uncommon thing,” Kimbrough said of drug thefts by hospital employees. “I think the Kristen Parker case and the incredible parts of that case shined a spotlight on this kind of behavior.”
Madill was fired July 1 because she was suspected of diverting drugs from patients, Lilly said.
“At St. Anthony Central Hospital, we take drug diversion very seriously,” the hospital said in its statement. “Our priority is and always will be patient safety. We employ clinical policies surrounding the safe handling and disposal of narcotics and take any drug diversion and/or suspected drug diversion very seriously.”
The hospital said it is working with lawenforcement and state health authorities on the investigation and hope Madill is prosecuted “to the full extent of the law.”
“Authorities have confirmed that we acted appropriately by reporting timely information, conducting a thorough investigation, terminating the employee involved and implementing a process to re-educate staff about drug diversion policies and procedures,” St. Anthony’s state.
“Above all, we promise to do all we can to maintain our community’s trust,” the hospital stated. “It is important to note that our internal investigations found that there is no reason to believe that any patients were harmed or compromised in any way. Our No. 1 concern is always the care and safety of our patients.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174
