The surgical technologist accused of stealing a powerful narcotic drug and risking the health of patients at a Colorado hospital was fired 17 months ago by an Arizona hospital for a drug-related problem.
HonorHealth John C. Lincoln Medical Center, a Phoenix hospital, announced late Saturday that any patient who had surgery while Rocky Allen was employed there can get free blood tests for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.
Its decision mirrors the action taken by Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, which has offered free blood tests to about 2,900 surgery patients during Allen’s term of employment.
The number of potentially affected patients is much smaller in Phoenix.
“We have identified 97 patients who were in a surgery” from July 28 to Sept. 26, 2014, when Allen worked at John C. Lincoln, the hospital said.
The hospital did not specify the circumstances of Allen’s dismissal there except to say “he was terminated for violation of our workplace policy when he tested positive for use of a controlled substance.”
In Colorado, Swedish terminated Allen, a 28-year-old surgical technologist, after a fellow employee reported seeing him steal fentanyl, a drug used by anesthesiologists, last month.
The Phoenix hospital’s announcement, made one day after a call from The Denver Post, shows Allen was able to find work in a Colorado operating room after a drug-related firing in Arizona.
“As soon as we found out about the Colorado incident and became aware that Allen was our former employee, we immediately began looking into the matter,” the hospital stated. “We are working in close collaboration with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health and the Arizona Department of Health Services.”
The hospital said it has no evidence that any patient had been infected, “but in the interest of patient safety, we’re taking a position of extreme caution.”
It also said it is “conducting a comprehensive review of our policies and procedures related to controlled substances.”
Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, medical director for disease control for the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, commended the hospital’s decision.
“The staff and physicians at John C. Lincoln Medical Center are doing the right thing for their patients. They immediately reached out to us about this matter,” she said.
A second hospital in a Phoenix suburb, Banner Thunderbird, confirmed that Allen also worked there in 2014. Hospital spokesman Jeff Nelson described it as a “very short period of time — six weeks” but would not say why Allen left.
“As a health institution, patient safety is paramount, and we certainly understand the gravity of the situation occurring in Colorado. However, as a matter of policy we are unable to comment on employee matters,” he said.
In Colorado, Swedish Medical Center patients who had surgery between Aug. 17, 2015, and this Jan. 22 have been asked to get free blood tests for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
Those dates coincide with Allen’s employment at the hospital. He was escorted out of the operating room and later dismissed after the alleged theft of a fentanyl syringe. His registration as a surgical technologist was suspended a week later in a state regulatory order that said he tested positive for fentanyl and marijuana.
The Post called the two Arizona hospitals in response to a tip from an Arizona hospital employee.
Arizona does not regulate surgical technologists, who are trained to assist in operating rooms, and does not keep disciplinary records concerning them.
The Post has been unable to reach Allen for an interview.
Jeff Holeman, a John C. Lincoln hospital spokesman, said that to his knowledge, the hospital was unaware of Allen’s previous employment at Banner Thunderbird.
In Colorado, the Englewood Police Department launched a criminal investigation into Allen’s alleged theft of fentanyl from Swedish but did not file charges.
That investigation has been turned over to two federal agencies, the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Swedish has not said whether Allen disclosed his prior employment in Arizona as a surgical technologist.
Swedish is investigating possible exposures with the state Department of Public Health and Environment and is reaching out to patients.
More than 1,600 people have come for blood tests, but state officials have not disclosed whether anyone is infected.
According to the state Division of Professions and Occupations, Rocky Elbert Allen registered as a surgical technologist license in July. It was summarily suspended Jan. 29.
The suspension order noted that on Jan. 22, “in the beginning stages of a surgical procedure,” Allen “removed a labeled fentanyl syringe” from the anesthesia work space “and replaced the fentanyl syringe with another labeled syringe.”
Allen “submitted to a urinalysis, which was positive for fentanyl and marijuana,” the order said.
David Olinger: 303-954-1498, dolinger@denverpost.com or @dolingerdp
