State Audit Reveals Soledad Prison Nurse Investigation - KCOY Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo - News

State Audit Reveals Soledad Prison Nurse Investigation

SOLEDAD, Calif.-  New information on an investigation into prison nurses at Soledad's Correctional Training Facility.  On Tuesday, more details about the case were obtained by Central Coast News.  A state audit confirms, one nurse scammed the state for thousands of dollars by lying on her time sheet.

In November, we learned the California Attorney General's office was investigating several nurses accused of wrongdoing.  Sources close to Central Coast News confirmed one of them was Director of Nursing Angelia Britt.  The whistleblower and other nurses claimed Britt diverted drugs that were meant for prisoners and falsified time sheets. 

But on Tuesday, the California State Auditor's office released results of its open investigation into the timesheet accusations, finding the state paid a nurse more than $8,000 and Britt is accused of overlooking it.  Now the state auditor is calling for corrective action.  We found out state officials knew of a potential problem two years ago.

The document describes "no confidence" in Director of Nursing Angelia Britt from a group of whistleblowers who reached out to us with the letter.  In December 2010, five nurses including Matt Pimentel, who's talked to Central Coast News said they saw problems within the nursing department at CTF for months. 

Three sections of the letter show claims of endangering patient lives by hiring and protecting incompetent nurses, overtime irregularities by Supervising Registered Nurse Lydia Hampton-Stewart and mishandling of drugs meant for prisoners.  That letter was sent to former Senator Sam Blakeslee, someone named Gerald Ellis as the facility CEO and Clark Kelso with California Prison Health Care Services.  The state auditor's office said after similar claims to its office, it started investigating.

"We received some allegations that a nurse improperly claimed time that she did not work and that her supervisor failed to ensure the accuracy of her time sheet," said California State Auditor Chief of Public Affairs Margarita Fernández.

The state Department of Prison Health Care Services said it has its own investigation and won't comment.  The auditor's report is asking Correctional Health Services to order the nurse pay back the $8,647 dollars the state ended up over paying her and find ways to keep it from happening again.

"It would consider seeking the corrective action against the nurse after it reviews all the evidence and also stated that they would develop a process to train managers and supervisors kind of regarding the time keeping and attendance requirements," Fernandez said.

The auditor's office said the California Whistleblower Protection Act allows them to investigate these claims but it also keeps them from dishing out detailed information.  Now the plan is to make sure the training facility takes action against Britt and Hampton-Stewart.

"We do continue to track it and will continue to report it until corrective action is taken," Fernandez said.

We've reached out to Blakeslee, but haven't heard back yet.