Fired Nurse Sues Oregon Hospital For $250K

A registered nurse who worked for three months at a Bend, Ore., hospital has sued for $250,000, contending she was fired for reporting the misdeeds of co-workers.

The Bend Bulletin reported that according to the Circuit Court lawsuit, Sonia Anderson experienced problems from the start of her time at St. Charles Bend.

In one instance, her lawsuit says she described a male patient’s wound as caused by friction from bedsheets. Anderson says a co-worker said she would characterize the wound as a pressure ulcer so the hospital could get Medicare approval to pay for a special bed. Anderson informed her manager, saying she believed that approach to be Medicare fraud.

In another case, Anderson told a manager that a newly hired employee was cutting away dead tissue from wounds without certification.

The lawsuit says Anderson was fired for “poor communication and team interaction skills.”

St. Charles spokeswoman Lisa Goodman declined to comment on pending litigation.