A whistleblower lawsuit filed in federal court accuses an emergency room nurse at Heritage Valley Health System in Sewickley of stealing patient medications and causing the death of at least two people because he was high — all while hospital officials ignored repeated complaints about him.
The lawsuit alleges Nolan Chismire, an emergency department nurse, has for at least eight years diverted narcotics from patients for his own use, while hospital leadership took no action against him — and instead covered it up.
It includes claims two patients died — a 70-year-old woman and 47-year-old man — and that another faced life-threatening conditions because of Chismire’s drug abuse.
“Chismire’s conduct is frequent, pervasive and ongoing,” the lawsuit said.
In addition to naming Chismire and the health system, the lawsuit includes as defendants hospital CEO Norm Mitry, Chief Nursing Officer Linda Homyk and other supervisors.
The lawsuit, unsealed this month, was filed by a current and a former nurse for the health system.
Samantha Gallo, who earned her nursing degree in 2022, continues to work there, the complaint said, while Jennifer Duckett, who has 18 years of experience, said she was terminated last year after reporting the misconduct.
The lawsuit includes accusations that hospital leadership retaliated against Gallo and Duckett for reporting Chismire and asserts allegations under the federal False Claims Act.
“For at least eight years, (Heritage Valley Health System) C-suite executives, ED physicians and ED nursing supervisors have had actual knowledge of Chismire’s crimes and done nothing to intervene to stop them,” the lawsuit said.
Messages left with hospital leadership and Chismire, 38, of Baden, Beaver County were not immediately returned Tuesday morning.
‘Stand down’
Chismire, who obtained his nursing license in 2009, began working at Heritage Valley in 2017, the lawsuit said.
However, the complaint asserts, hospital officials were aware of Chismire’s troubled history, which included being fired from two previous positions, as well as having his nursing license suspended for three years because of stealing drugs.
According to the lawsuit, Chismire’s alleged drug abuse continued from early on in his tenure at Heritage Valley.
Staff nurses, including his wife, reported Chismire’s behavior to their supervisors only to be turned away, the lawsuit said.
It lays out examples when other nurses at the hospital went to Homyk to report Chismire.
In one instance, the complaint said, nurses saw Chismire enter the staff bathroom and then exit high, “after which ED nurses entered the room to see and photograph a freshly used orange tourniquet, used injectable needle syringes and empty Valium intravenous vials Chismire had used seconds before to shoot up the stolen controlled substance.”
When the nurses took the photos to Homyk, the lawsuit said, she chastised them and ordered them to “‘stand down.’”
A failure to report?
The lawsuit alleges Chismire falsified medical records to reflect controlled substances had been prescribed when they hadn’t, and that he stole for his own use leftover medications from vials that hadn’t been completely emptied.
Chismire’s wife, who also worked as an emergency department nurse, told a colleague in 2022 of her husband’s addiction, the lawsuit said. That colleague reported the information to Homyk, the lawsuit said, who took no action.
At least six nurses, in addition to Gallo and Duckett, reported Chismire’s behavior to Homyk, the complaint said.
The lawsuit asserts hospital officials failed to report the alleged misconduct to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration or the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as required.
“Not only have HVHS management and healthcare supervisors not taken steps to stop Chismire’s ongoing criminal conduct, but they have also taken additional steps to cover up this criminal conduct — and thereby enable its staggering consequences for patient care and safety,” the complaint said.
According to the lawsuit, hospital officials removed a camera from the controlled-substance room that would show the drugs being improperly removed; the CEO cut police staffing in the emergency department, and Homyk lied to the state board of nursing in 2024 when they arrived to inquire about Chismire.
The lawsuit asserts hospital leadership fears being held liable, criminally and civilly, for Chismire’s misconduct and that the allegations could harm the ongoing merger of Heritage Valley with Allegheny Health Network, from which they expect large bonuses.
“(D)isclosure of their crimes would undermine the transition and thereby eviscerate the large golden-parachute payments they covet,” the complaint said.
AHN declined to comment.
‘Sentinel events’
The lawsuit also alleges four unreported “sentinel events,” in which a patient was exposed to death or serious harm because of a patient safety event not related to an underlying condition.
In fall 2023, Chismire was working triage in the emergency department when he failed to recognize or treat severe lacerations on a patient’s hands from a machete, the lawsuit said. He sent the patient back to the waiting room, unattended, for two hours, where another nurse later found him with life-threatening blood pressure and pulse from blood loss, it continued.
Then, in spring 2024, a 70-year-old woman, whose condition was not life-threatening, arrived at the emergency department for treatment.
However, the lawsuit said, Chismire failed to provide her any attention for hours.
“Chismire, who was high at the time and then rushing to cover his prolonged absence, made a medication error that ultimately killed this Medicare participant,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit asserts the hospital system failed to report what happened as required by federal law.
Another sentinel event, the lawsuit cited, involved a 47-year-old man who was in alcohol withdrawal.
The lawsuit asserts Chismire failed to provide him with proper care, causing the man to leave the hospital. He fell in the parking lot, suffered a head injury and later died after being transferred to Allegheny General Hospital.
The fourth incident involved a patient who arrived in severe pain in December 2024 but reported never feeling relief despite Chismire reportedly providing morphine.
According to the lawsuit, Duckett recalls hundreds of instances when doctors and nurses were looking for Chismire for more than an hour because he was not providing patient care, while families and patients complained.
Rehab and a suspension
According to the state Board of Nursing, Chismire was fired from Villa St. Joseph in Baden in 2009 after eight months because of alleged drug addiction.
Chismire was fired from Allegheny General Hospital in 2012 after five weeks on the job, following allegations he diverted morphine, fentanyl and Ativan, according to the complaint.
After AGH reported him to the State Board of Nursing, Chismire entered treatment at Gateway Rehabilitation Center in 2011. However, the lawsuit said, he continued to relapse, and at one point broke into his parents’ home and stole from them. His mother filed criminal charges, the complaint said, but agreed to drop the charges when, in spring 2012, Chismire agreed to enter a 14-month residential program.
He completed it May 31, 2013.
Chismire petitioned the state nursing board for reinstatement in December 2013. Nearly a year later, the petition was approved, the lawsuit said, under strict conditions, including a three-year probationary period.
According to state records Tuesday, the Board of Nursing showed Chismire’s license as active with an expiration date of Oct. 31, 2026.
Criminal court records show Chismire was convicted of DUI stemming from an arrest in October 2011 in Beaver County for which he was sentenced to two years on intermediate punishment with electronic home monitoring.
