Kingston, ON – Feb. 8, 2023 – Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) has launched an investigation following the termination of an employee found to have fraudulently gained employment with KHSC by submitting false information and claiming to be a registered nurse (RN) when they were not in fact registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO).
The individual worked primarily in the post surgical unit (Kidd 6) at the Kingston General Hospital (KGH) site from July 22, 2022 to Jan. 27, 2023. This individual also worked some shifts on additional units between Dec. 1, 2022 and Jan. 27, 2023 including the Admission and Transfer Unit (ATU), Connell 10, Kidd 9, Connell 9, Davies 5, Kidd 5, Kidd 4, Johnson 3, Kidd 3, and Connell 3.
“This individual undertook significant efforts to fraudulently gain employment with KHSC including providing extensive forged documentation of their qualifications and credentials,” says Jason Hann, Executive Vice-President of Patient Care and Chief Nursing Executive. “The fraudulent activity was identified through a routine, scheduled check with the CNO, that is completed for all nurses employed at KHSC and we quickly took action to end the individual’s employment.”
KHSC has informed the appropriate authorities, including the CNO and Kingston Police. In addition to conducting its own internal investigation, KHSC will fully cooperate with any investigation by these external agencies.
“We are in the process of reviewing our hiring and onboarding process to ensure there are not gaps in our systems that would allow for another incident to occur in the future,” says Sandra Carlton, Executive Vice-President and Chief Human Resources Officer. “While we believe this is a truly unique scenario, we will use this as an opportunity to strengthen our processes to the fullest extent possible to ensure it will not happen again.”
KHSC’s internal investigation will focus on determining the impact on patients and their families. The hospital is currently in the process of contacting individual patients and families who were cared for by the former employee, to provide more direct information on its findings.
“We understand the stress and anxiety this news may cause for our patients and other KHSC staff. We will work directly with the impacted patients, families, and staff to address their concerns,” says Dr. David Pichora, President and CEO. “We are committed to providing patients and their families with safe, high-quality care at all times and we are committed to speaking with each individual that reaches out to us using the contact information that has been provided to the patients who have been impacted.”
If any patient has any concerns, and would like to discuss further, they can contact KHSC’s Patient Relations team by email (@email) or phone (613-549-6666 extension 4158).
Please note that due to the in-depth nature of these calls and the time needed to commit to each one, some patients may not receive an immediate call-back. KHSC apologizes for any delay and thanks everyone for their patience as our staff work through the process of addressing individual concerns.
MEDIA CONTACT:
John Pereira
Strategic Communications Advisor
Kingston Health Sciences Centre
Phone: 613-217-4067
Email: @email
