WA health officials drop charges against Tri-Cities school nurse. Plus other cases

The Washington state Department of Health has dropped previously reported charges against a former Pasco School District nurse.

It also has charged a Benton County physical therapist with unprofessional conduct and taken action on previously reported charges against a Benton County chiropractor, registered nurse and substance use disorder professional trainee.

▪ The Department of Health has withdrawn charges of unprofessional conduct and violating Washington state standards of nursing conduct made earlier this year against Kelly Marie Martin.

She had appeared to be impaired while on the job at Franklin STEM Elementary School.

She was required to submit to a drug test that came back positive for drugs for which she had prescriptions, including a drug that may be prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

She resigned from the Pasco School District at the end of the 2021 school year.

▪ Benton County physical therapist Amy Lynn Lewis, formerly known as Amy Stone, has been charged with unprofessional conduct for failing to comply with a monitoring program for healthcare professionals, according to the Department of Health.

She had been granted a physical therapy license in June 2021, but monitoring was required because she had been convicted of DUI in 2014.

She is accused of not providing a required urine sample and also providing a urine sample that tested positive for amphetamines and ethyl.

▪ West Richland chiropractor Nathan Scott Anderson has agreed to participate in a substance use monitoring program, submit personal progress reports and not visit any patients at home.

As previously reported, he was accused of visiting a patient at her home from November 2017 to November 2018 but was not there to provide treatment.

After his visits hydrocodone pills were allegedly missing. He also purchased a rifle from the patient without immediately paying for it.

His chiropractic license has been placed on probation.

▪ Benton County registered nurse Emily Marie Hanson has agreed to an order suspending her license, which had already expired.

As previously reported, she was working as a nursing supervisor and an audit showed that in two months in 2019 she withdrew more oxycodone from the facility’s automated medication dispensing system than other nurses, even though she did not have individual patient responsibilities.

The state Department of Health said she earlier admitted diverting oxycodone.

▪ The agency affiliate counselor license and substance use disorder professional trainee license of Robert Lee Sauers of Benton County have been suspended.

He may petition for reinstatement of his licenses.

As previously reported, he failed to comply with a 2020 agreement to complete continuing education and submit quarterly performance evaluations to the state.

His credentials were put on probation in 2020 based on interactions with a patient in a counseling unit at what was then Lourdes Medical center.

He provided care as a mental health aide for the patient and then picked them up at a grocery store and drove them to a bus stop after they were discharged. He also exchanged phone number with them.

When the patient was again admitted to Lourdes, Sauers asked them not to discuss the incident, according to the Department of Health.

Sauers did not admit the allegations.