Tri-Cities health care workers accused of nude photos, embezzlement and more

The Washington state Department of Health has accused or taken action against Tri-Cities area health care providers over allegations of embezzlement, sending a client a nude photo and stopping with a patient at an adult sex store, among other accusations.

Department of Health actions include:

▪ Robert Drew Schreiber is accused of unprofessional conduct for alleged sexually suggestive communication with a counseling client.

He has credentials to work in Washington as an independent clinical social worker associate and an agency affiliated counselor. A “Psychology Today” website says he has a Richland telehealth practice.

The Washington state Department of Health alleges that while he was working from July 2021 until early 2025 as a mental health counselor in a Washington facility, which was not named in state documents, he sent sexually suggestive messages to a patient.

They included a nude photo and a request to discuss the patient’s “therapist fantasy,” state documents allege.

He has an opportunity to respond to Department of Health charges.

▪ Kenneth Wilke, a registered nurse, admitted using fentanyl, hydromorphone and Dilaudid intended for disposal while working at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland between November 2023 and April 2024, according to a Washington state Department of Health document.

He is required to continue complying with the Washington Health Professional Services monitoring program. In addition he must complete 15 hours of continuing education in documentation and ethics.

▪ The credential for a certified nursing assistant in Benton County, Casandra Maria Chavez, has been indefinitely suspended by the Washington state Department of Health.

She is accused of taking a patient on April 12, 2024, to buy marijuana and items from an adult sex store for her own use. The patient waited in the car.

She worked as an assistant at the Kennewick home of the patient’s mother and had been allowed to practice as a certified nursing assistant in Washington state since 2017.

She may petition to have her credential reinstated if she pays a $250 fine and completes 10 hours of continuing education in law and ethics, patient rights and boundaries.

▪ The veterinary technician license of Kristina Ripplinger has been suspended for at least 10 years.

The Washington state Department of Health alleges that from spring 2018 to spring 2023, Ripplinger embezzled $470,000 from Horse Heaven Hills Pet Urgent Care in Kennewick.

Court documents say she deposited up to $20,000 a month into her personal bank account after veterinary records were changed to show a cash refund to customers. She was the veterinarian practice manager.

A trial is scheduled for September in Benton County Superior Court.

▪ Bradley Leroy Akridge has been ordered to permanently stop providing chiropractic care in Washington state unless properly credentialed.

He also is ordered to pay a $1,000 fine within six months.

Akridge’s license, originally issued in 1983, was suspended in June 2009, yet he continued to practice, alleges the Department of Health.

His troubles started in 1993 with convictions of felony possession of cocaine in Benton County Superior Court, according to the Department of Health

In May 2005 he was convicted of third-degree theft, a gross misdemeanor, and in 2007 he was convicted of DUI in Benton County, a gross misdemeanor.

He had a practice in Connell in 2003 but said his records had been destroyed when the Department of Health requested them less than five years later in 2007, according to the agency. Washington state law requires the retention of records.

His license was indefinitely suspended in 2009, unless he completed conditions he agreed to with the Department of Health.

They included undergoing a chemical dependency evaluation and passing a National Board of Chiropractic Examiners ethics and boundaries exam.