The department’s Health Systems Quality Assurance Office works with boards, commissions and advisory committees to set licensing standards for more than 70 health care professions (e.g., medical doctors, nurses,

counselors).Information about health care providers is on the agency’s website. Click on “Provider Credential Search” on the left hand side of the Department of Health home page (www.doh.wa.gov).

The site includes information about a health care provider’s license status, the expiration and renewal date of their credential, disciplinary actions and copies of legal documents issued after July 1998.

This information is also available by calling 360-236-4700.

Consumers who think a health care provider acted unprofessionally are also encouraged to call and report their complaint.

Chelan County

In April 2012 the Nursing Assistant Program indefinitely suspended the certification of nursing assistant Dennis A. Merritt (NC60168638) for failing to comply with an agreement to file timely reports and urine testing for substance abuse.

In February 2012 the Nursing Assistant Program indefinitely suspended the certification of nursing assistant Dulce Ibarra (NC60014795). She failed to set a door alarm at the adult family home where she worked, resulting in a resident wandering from the home. She also failed to monitor the pulse of another resident and withheld medication. She also mixed up medications for two residents who both took medications intended for the other resident.

Clallam County

In April 2012 the Nursing Commission indefinitely suspended the credential of registered nurse Sandra Leilani Dalton (RN00057746) because she is unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety. Her credential expired in 2010 but is eligible for renewal. She is currently undergoing treatment for brain cancer and is at risk for seizures, memory loss, and speech problems. She may petition to reinstate her credential with proof from a medical provider about her safety to practice as a registered nurse.

In April 2012 dentist Barry J. Suta (DE00004264) surrendered his license to the Dental Commission. He may not practice as a dentist in Washington. In February 2011 Suta was convicted of two counts of felony assault.

In April 2012 the Nursing Assistant Program indefinitely suspended the credential of registered nursing assistant Sandra Lee Richards (NA00104713) for failing to comply with an order that she enroll and participate in the Washington Health Professional Services program for substance abuse.

Cowlitz County

In March 2012 the Nursing Commission  suspended the credential of registered nurse Tanya K. Hendrickson (RN00098177) for at least two years for substance abuse, diverting controlled substances for her personal use, and abusing a patient by failing to assess that a hospice patient was not getting pain medication. Her credential expired in February but was eligible for late renewal.

King County

In April 2012 the Nursing Commission suspended the credential of licensed practical nurse Danniele M. Crenshaw (LP00050577) for multiple criminal convictions and substance abuse. She may reapply with evidence of being clean and sober for at least 24 consecutive months.

In April 2012 the Medical Commission permanently revoked the license of physician Michael E. Mockovak (MD00040602). Mockovac’s license was summarily suspended in January 2010. His Washington license expired in April 2010. Mockovak surrendered his license to practice as a physician in Oregon. In 2011 he was found guilty of solicitation to commit murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit theft, and attempted theft. He is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Kittitas County

In April 2012 the Medical Commission permanently revoked the license of physician Sawraj Singh (MC00024891). The Commission found that Singh, a dermatologist, performed unnecessary procedures on multiple patients from 2007 through 2008. He was also prescribed controlled substances for patients who did not require them.

In April 2012 the Nursing Assistant Program and Respiratory Care Practitioner Program indefinitely suspended the credentials of registered nursing assistant and respiratory care practitioner Ty H. Buchanan (NA00178419, RESP.LR00000161). Buchanan violated a prior probation order by failing to submit to random drug testing.

Pierce County

In April 2012 the Nursing Assistant Program indefinitely suspended credentials of nursing assistant Chantile C. Sager (NA00198674, NC60038006) for failing to comply with an agreed order.

In April 2012 the Chiropractic Commission indefinitely suspended the credential of chiropractor Danny D. Baldwin (CH00003681). Baldwin placed newspaper ads claiming a “cold laser technology” would reduce body fat. He also billed patients for future care and failed to refund patients for care not provided.

In April 2012 the Nursing Commission indefinitely suspended the credential of licensed practical nurse Lakita L. Anthony Coleman (LP00052265). Coleman’s Washington credential was summarily suspended in August 2011 based on the revocation of her Texas credential in June 2011.

In April 2012 the Chemical Dependency Professional Program indefinitely suspended the credential of chemical dependency professional trainee Dustin William Doerflinger (CO60166504) for failing to comply with an agreement to enroll and participate in substance abuse monitoring.

In April 2012 the Dental Commission indefinitely suspended the credential of dental assistant Kim M. Shipman (DEAS.D1.60087419). Shipman was convicted of two counts of theft in the third degree in October 2011.

Snohomish County

In April 2012 the Nursing Commission suspended the credential of licensed practical nurse Elaine B. Fast (LP00034908) for failing to comply with a prior agreement for substance abuse monitoring. Fast’s credential is currently expired. She may reapply with evidence of being clean and sober for at least 24 consecutive months.

Spokane County

In March 2012 the Nursing Commission indefinitely suspended the credential of Annette M. Knoll (00094378). Knoll’s credential was summarily suspended in February because of a suspension of her Idaho nursing license.  She may not ask for reinstatement of her license until she complies with the Idaho order.

In April 2012 the Chiropractic Commission suspended the credential of chiropractor Michael Allen Baker (CH00001832) for four years for failing to comply with a prior agreed order, fraudulent billing practices, and practicing on an expired license.

Thurston County

In March 2012 the Nursing Commission indefinitely suspended the credential of licensed practical nurse Mary C. Kelly-Walsh (LP0034956) for failing to participate in a substance abuse monitoring program as required by a prior agreement. She may reapply with evidence of being clean and sober for at least 24 consecutive months.0

Walla Walla County

In April 2012 the Nursing Assistant Program suspended the certification of nursing assistant Elizabeth A. Shelton (NC10088885) for three years. She was convicted of obtaining controlled substances by fraud in 2010.

Out of State

California: In April 2012 the Nursing Assistant Program indefinitely suspended the certification of nursing assistant Corey Stephen Swinburne (NC60197808). In September 2011 Swinburne was directed to seek a substance abuse evaluation and enter a treatment program if recommended by the Washington Health Professional Services. In January 2012 he withdrew from the program.

California: In April 2012 the Nursing Commission summarily suspended the credential of registered nurse Joni Denise Love (RN60143010). Love surrendered her California credential in December 2011. She was charged with using alcohol while practicing nursing and while on probation with the California Board of Registered Nursing.

California: In April 2012 the Nursing Commission indefinitely suspended the credential of registered nurse Mariya L. Morris (RN00157532). She is also known as Mariya Vadimovna Lim, Mariya Vadinovna Lim, and Marya Lim. Lim’s Washington license was summarily suspended following the revocation of her California nursing license.  

Illinois: In April 2012 the Nursing Commission indefinitely suspended the credential of Paulette M. Bell (RN00167637). Bell’s Washington credential was summarily suspended in March following the suspension of her Nevada nursing license.  

Minnesota: In April 2012 the Nursing Commission summarily suspended the credential of registered nurse Ronald I. Mogaka (RN60196154). Mogaka’s credential expired in October 2011 but was eligible for late renewal. In January 2012 his credential to practice as a registered nursed and licensed practical nurse in Minnesota were suspended by the Minnesota nursing board.

Oregon: In March 2012 the Health Care Assistant Program suspended the credential of health care assistant Ronda Susan Rose (HC60108767) for four years due to a felony conviction for 3^rddegree assault, and a misdemeanor conviction for aiming and discharging firearms, dangerous weapons.

Texas: In April 2012 dentist Robert P. Parks (DE00004389) surrendered his license to the Dental Commission. He may not practice as a dentist in Washington.

None of the nurses interviewed could accurately explain what would happen if a patient became disconnected from a cardiac monitor — which allegedly occurred to the patient who died, according to an October 2011 report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ inspector general.

The incident followed two deaths in the cardiac monitoring unit at a VA hospital in Denver that raised similar questions about nurse competency.

Earlier this month, a broader review by the VA inspector general of 29 VA facilities found only half had adequately documented that their nurses had the needed skills. Some nurses “did not demonstrate competency in one or more required skills,” but there was no evidence of retraining, the report said.

An outside nursing expert who reviewed the reports at ProPublica’s request called them “troubling” and said the fact that the lapses weren’t caught and corrected “signified much broader problems.”

The inspector general’s findings reveal “a lack of oversight and adherence to accepted clinical and regulatory standards,” said Jane Hirsch, a clinical professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, who previously oversaw nursing at U.C. San Francisco Medical Center.

The April 20 IG report also noted that previous inspections had found nurse competency issues in “dialysis, mental health, long-term care, spinal cord injury, endoscopy procedure areas, the operating room and the cardiac catheterization laboratory and with reusable medical equipment.”

In a response to the inspector general, the VA pledged to create uniform competency standards for its 152 hospitals and to ensure that evaluations of every nurse’s skills are up-to-date. Nurses will not be able to work in areas in which they have not demonstrated competency.

A VA spokeswoman declined further comment.

Nurse competency has increasingly become an issue in medicine. Hospitals and clinics create their own procedures and tests for assessing the skills of nurses, but theiradherence to these policies is spotty.

Outside regulators don’t test individual nurses, but simply check if a sampling of the nurses’ files have the appropriate paperwork certifying competency.

That’s what VA’s inspector general did for the April review. As such, officials acknowledged that they could not verify whether nurses at those hospitals, or others, are providing competent care.

“We did not look at actual care or actual competence,” Julie Watrous, director of the inspector general’s combined assessment program, which inspects each VA hospital every three years, told ProPublica.

Only half the 29 facilities included in the new report had complete nurse skill assessment records that met the hospitals’ standards, inspectors found. Of the 349 nurses whose files were examined, paperwork showed that 58 lacked skills in at least one area. And for 24 in that group, there was no evidence that anything was done in response.

In an interview, however, the IG official who coordinated the report said she was generally pleased with the findings. Although both the VA and its hospitals had room to improve, she said, all of the hospitals had policies in place and at least some proof of skills in each nurse’s file.

“We never found one single site or even person that didn’t have at least components of competency assessment and validation,” said Carol Torczon, associate director of the St. Petersburg, Fla., office of the inspector general. “Where we found the holes was in the paper process.”

Torczon said she believed that the problems identified in Denver and New York were not reflective on the care generally provided by VA nurses in cardiac monitoring units.

Inspectors in the New York and Colorado cases said they could not definitely tie the deaths of the patients to their nurses’ care. But they noted that their lack of training put patients at risk.

Registered nurses assigned to telemetry units typically place cardiac leads, set parameters for the monitors tracking each patient, verify heart rhythms and take appropriate actions if there is an irregularity. They also enter progress notes and inform doctors of any changes.

After the patient in New York died, inspectors quizzed nurses and a biomedical engineer about what would happen if a patient got disconnected. “According to some staff, a ‘red alarm’ would be triggered since a disconnected lead was considered critical,” the report said, “whereas other staff told us that a disconnected lead would trigger a yellow alarm or that it would not trigger any alarm at all.”

Inspectors also found no evidence that the nurses’ competence had been checked. Records showed that one of the patient’s nurses had last received training on the monitors 13 years earlier.

Two years earlier at a VA hospital in Denver, inspectors looked into the deaths of two patients on cardiac monitors. After the first death, the hospital gave nurses a basic test of their ability to interpret monitor readings: only one of 28 passed, according to a January 2010 report. The nurse in charge when both patients died had never received specialized training in cardiac monitors.

Even after the second patient died in 2009, inspectors found “it was unclear who was responsible for telemetry training, and staff were not aware that policies had been updated.”

Both facilities vowed extensive reforms in responses that were included in the IG reports.

Experts say up-to-date competency evaluations are important because they ensure that nurses, who provide the bulk of the frontline care in hospitals, have the skills for their position.

“It would appear that the old adage ‘inspect what you expect’ has most certainly not been taken very seriously in these environments,” said Hirsch, who was chief nursing officer at UCSF Medical Center for nine years.

After reading the New York and Denver reports, Hirsch said her concern wasn’t the incidents themselves as much as that the competency of the nurses hadn’t been documented or evaluated in a long time.

Had she been in charge, the findings would have caused her “to be really nervous and want to jump on it immediately,” she said.