A former Texas hospital administrator who was accused of retaliating against 2 whistle-blowing nurses has accepted a plea deal and will serve 30 days in jail in exchange for helping the state attorney general's office pursue related charges against a doctor, sheriff and prosecutor implicated in the case.
Stan Wiley, former administrator of Winkler County Memorial Hospital in West Texas, fired nurses Vickilyn Galle and Anne Mitchell in June 2009 after finding out that they'd filed an anonymous complaint against emergency medicine specialist Rolando Arafiles Jr., MD. Earlier that year, they had alerted the Texas Medical Board of alleged unethical practices by the doctor, saying that he encouraged patients to purchase herbal medicines from him and sought hospital supplies for a procedure he wanted to perform at a patient's home, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle.
Investigators say that, when informed of the complaint, Dr. Arafiles asked his friend and patient, Winkler County Sheriff Robert Roberts, to help him find out who was behind it. Mr. Roberts allegedly used his position to obtain a copy of the complaint, from which he and the doctor were able to discern the identities of the anonymous tipsters. Mr. Wiley fired the nurses, and a month later they were indicted for "misuse of official information" over their complaint to the state board. Ms. Galle's case was dropped and Ms. Mitchell was exonerated in February 2010.
After an investigation, the state attorney general's office accused Mr. Wiley, Mr. Roberts, Dr. Arafiles and County Attorney Scott Tidwell of "official oppression, retaliatory conduct and misuse of official information" in their retaliation against and prosecution of the nurses. The women's identities "would have been protected from disclosure if law enforcement officials had not misused their position to obtain confidential information," the AG's office says in a statement.
Grand juries have indicted Dr. Arafiles and the county officials on multiple counts. In accepting the plea deal, Mr. Wiley pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of abuse of official capacity, agreed to spend 30 days in jail and pay a $2,000 fine, and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution of the remaining defendants in the case.
Meanwhile, the Texas Medical Board is allowing Dr. Arafiles to continue practicing medicine during a 4-year probation in which he must complete additional training and be monitored by another physician, according to the Chronicle. The nurses won a $750,000 settlement from the county after being exonerated.
Irene Tsikitas
