Veterans seeking care at the desperately understaffed VA Wausau outpatient clinic might be surprised to find out that the doctor hired to mitigate the shortage has recently fallen out of favor with Wisconsin’s medical board because she mishandled patient health records.
Tomah VA carries responsibility for the Wausau clinic.
The Wisconsin Rapids Tribune reported in early December that “the Wausau clinic has hired a doctor and two nurse practitioners within the past two months. That has allowed the Wausau clinic to bring back the 2,400 patients it had diverted to other VA facilities and private health care providers.”
In that article, the VA neither mentioned the name of the doctor, nor the fact that she ran afoul of medical authorities earlier in the year.
That new doctor is Dr. Eileen Gavin. Documents obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation show that in June 2015, the medical examining board in Wisconsin found that Gavin had engaged in unprofessional conduct related to patient health records, an issue all too familiar at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
According to the board, back in 2013, Dr. Eileen Gavin worked as the acting medical director for a hospice program located in Wausau. In April of that year, Gavin prescribed anxiety and pain medication to a long-time friend who lived in a different state and did not have medical insurance. That friend was also involved in an abusive relationship.
Gavin prescribed a month’s supply of meds. Soon after, in June, the friend was beaten by her significant other. Gavin requested a copy of the police report, and once she was satisfied, refilled the medications.
She did not create any medical records to document her actions. The friend didn’t pay for the services, either.
That wasn’t the only case the examining board found fault with Gavin. In another example, Gavin admitted to the board that she neglected to properly dispose of medications at least twice. While visiting hospice patients nearing the end of their life, Gavin would take any medications in the room back to her office, instead of leaving them with the family. She intended to dispose of the medications, but simply locked them away in her desk and forgot.
After her employer conducted an investigation and found the medications, Gavin was forced to resign.
The board ordered that she pay costs and take an eight-hour course in medical recordkeeping, placing a limit on her medical license until she completed the re-education.
Gavin’s move to the VA follows a similar pattern at Tomah. Former Tomah Chief of Staff Dr. David Houlihan, who was fired for overseeing an epidemic of opioid over-prescription at the facility, moved over to Wisconsin after he was reprimanded by the Iowa Board of Medical Examiners. Houlihan inappropriately hired patients to work for him and also brought patient medications back to his house. He also had an inappropriate social relationship with a patient.
It’s unclear whether the Tomah VA knew about Gavin’s run-in with the board in advance, as the facility did not respond to a request for comment.
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