For immediate release: September 20, 2022 (22-144)
Contact: Sharon Moysiuk, Communications 360-549-6471
Public inquiries: Health Systems Customer Service 360-236-4700
OLYMPIA -- The Washington State Department of Health has revoked or suspended the licenses, certifications, or registrations of the following health care providers in our state. The department has also immediately suspended the credentials of people who have been prohibited from practicing in other states.
The department’s Health Systems Quality Assurance Division works with boards, commissions and advisory committees to set licensing standards for more than 80 health care professions (e.g., dentists, nurses, counselors). Information about disciplinary action taken against medical doctors and physician assistants can be found on the Washington Medical Commission (WMC) website. Questions about WMC disciplinary actions can be sent to media@wmc.wa.gov.
Information about health care providers is on the agency’s website. Click on “Look up a health care provider license” in the “How Do I?” section of the Department of Health home page (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.
Clark County
In August 2022 the Nursing Assistant Program suspended the certified nursing assistant license of Roberto Zitri Espinoza Vargas (NC60996291). Vargas abused a vulnerable adult who was a patient in the locked memory care unit of an assisted living facility where he worked. Charges state that Vargas wrongly told the patient, who suffered from dementia, that his family was deceased, and the patient had killed them. Vargas also pushed, pulled, choked, and forcefully restrained the patient against his will by lying on top of him.
Grays Harbor County
In August 2022 the secretary of health suspended the license of certified medical assistant Alexandra Lee Krussel-Tupper (CM60361582) for unprofessional conduct. In April 2021, Krussel-Tupper was convicted of unlawful imprisonment in Grays Harbor Superior Court.
Out of State
Oregon: In August 2022 the Nursing Commission accepted the surrender of the license of registered nurse Grace Ann Koch (RN00073776). Koch had surrendered her license to the Oregon State Board of Nursing after she failed to comply with a prior Oregon State Board of Nursing order.
The DOH website is your source for a healthy dose of information. Find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Sign up for the DOH blog, Public Health Connection.
###