Bill addresses ailing health care system

By the time nursing assistant Lamin Darboe was charged with raping a mute, paralyzed stroke patient, he had left behind a long string of warning signs. He had been convicted of a domestic-violence assault, fired three times, and arrested and cleared in two separate rape cases.

But none of the safeguards in the state's health care system caught him in time.

Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Roy, wants to make sure that doesn't happen again, through a bill that would fortify background checks and disciplinary sanctions on doctors, nurses, aides and other health care providers. Campbell wants the state Department of Health to consider not only criminal convictions in background checks, but also any "series of arrests" that show potential harm to patients.

The bill would require the department to review criminal records of a certain percentage of providers every year and to check for arrests and convictions after someone has been licensed.

It also would compel hospitals and other health care facilities to report unprofessional conduct of providers. Providers themselves would have to report their own arrests and convictions. There are no provisions in the bill to punish scofflaws who fail to report. "If there's questionable complaints, if it looks suspicious, then (the Department of Health) should investigate," said Campbell, who is a member of the House Health Care & Wellness Committee.

"This isn't a court of law. You're supposed to be safe and competent."

Campbell said he was inspired partially by the case of Darboe, whom prosecutors say repeatedly raped and molested a young female stroke patient at Seattle's Kindred Hospital last year.

The Seattle P-I found that gaping flaws in the health care system had allowed Darboe to remain licensed for 13 years, despite his many firings and suspected crimes.

The department conducted only one background check on him, which turned up no wrongdoing. Later, bungled communication between state health officials and a hospital where Darboe sexually harassed a patient resulted in no follow-through.

A second hospital that knew of another incident -- this time, a rape charge -- never told health officials about it, because it wasn't required to do so. "There's a lot of loopholes in the current system," Campbell said.

The bill would also transfer the disciplining authority from professional boards and commissions to the health department.

Campbell said the current system -- of professionals determining the punishment of their peers -- often results in inadequate discipline and continued harm to the public.

"We take out the good-old-boy network," he said.

Many health care associations oppose the bill. Jennifer Hanscom, spokeswoman for the Washington State Medical Association, said discipline and background checks should reside with professionals, who can provide expertise.

"Only physicians have the experience necessary to understand the standard of care given in any case," Hanscom said.

Her group, which represents more than 9,000 doctors and physician assistants, also opposes background checks that consider arrests.

"An arrest doesn't necessarily mean someone has been proven guilty, nor does it have to do with the practice of medicine," Hanscom said.

The bill, which passed out of the Health Care Committee on Jan. 29, would also require the Department of Health to conduct federal criminal background checks on applicants who warrant extra scrutiny, such as those from out of state or with an in-state criminal record.

"This is a very comprehensive piece of consumer legislation," Campbell said. "If it is passed, we will have something that will make a serious difference in the way things are done."