Woman at heart of Hep-C probe convinced Springs center not to contact her employer

When Kristen Diane Parker interviewed for a job at the Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center in Colorado Springs in April, she requested that her employer in Denver not be contacted because she still worked there, an Audubon spokesperson said Friday.

The scrub technician charged on Thursday with swapping syringes that may have spread hepatitis C to as many as 5,700 patients had been placed on administrative leave twice at Rose Medical Center in Denver and had tested positive for fentanyl, a powerful painkiller, before losing her job.

"She had not been fired at the time that we had hired her," said Joe Hodas, a representative for Audubon. "When we interviewed her, she had not been fired by Rose Medical Center."

Parker resigned from Rose on April 20, but the hospital refused to accept her resignation and instead fired her. She worked at Audubon from May 4 until Monday.

Audubon granted Parker's request not to contact Rose Medical Center, but did conduct a standard employment drug test that detects marijuana and other common drugs. But the test fails to identify more unusual drugs like fentanyl.

"There is a background check and a drug test," Hodas said. "However, if someone wants to work the system in general, people will find a way."

Federal authorities filed charges against Parker on Thursday, and officials warned that 1,000 to 1,200 patients at the Colorado Springs surgery center are at risk of having been infected with hepatitis C.

At least nine surgery patients at Rose have tested positive for the disease, according to an investigator for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but it is unknown if those cases are linked to Parker. No positive tests for the disease have turned up yet at Audubon, Hodas said.

Audubon is taking several steps to reach out to patients who may have been exposed to the virus. The center set up a help line, and about 100 calls came in on Friday. On Monday, Audubon will send certified letters to 1,200 patients who had outpatient surgery at its Circle Drive and Union Boulevard location between May 4 and July 1 with instructions for a follow-up evaluation. Audubon plans to begin free screenings next week.

Audubon officials also created a blog at http://audubonsurgerycenter.blogspot.com to answer an array of questions, including "Why did you hire her after she was fired from Rose Medical Center?" "Are you going to be sued?" and "What is the chance I was infected?"

"We're basically sharing with them the situation as we know it," Hodas said. "Our top concern right now is that we reach out to all our patients and take care of them as quickly as we can."

Rose Medical Center is handling the situation similarly. Its hotline received a high number of calls Friday, the Denver Post reported, and about 4,700 certified letters will be sent to former patients next week.
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