A whistleblower lawsuit filed in federal court accuses an emergency room nurse at Heritage Valley Health System in Sewickley of stealing medications from patients and causing the deaths of at least two people because he was high – all while hospital staff ignored repeated complaints against him.
The lawsuit alleges that Nolan Chismir, an emergency room nurse, diverted drugs from patients for his own use for at least eight years while hospital management took no action against him and instead covered it up.
It said two patients died – a 70-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man – and that another faced life-threatening conditions due to Chismir’s drug abuse.
“Chismire’s actions are frequent, pervasive and ongoing,” the lawsuit states.
In addition to naming Chismir and the health system, the lawsuit names hospital CEO Norm Mitry, chief nursing officer Linda Homick and other executives as defendants.
The lawsuit, unsealed this month, was filed by a current and former public health nurse.
Samantha Gallo, who graduated with a nursing degree in 2022, continues to work there, the complaint said, while Jennifer Duckett, who has 18 years of experience, said she was fired last year after she reported misconduct.
The lawsuit includes allegations that hospital officials retaliated against Gallo and Duckett for reporting Chismire, and also alleges charges under the federal False Claims Act.
“For at least eight years, (Heritage Valley Health System) senior executives, emergency department physicians, and emergency department nursing leaders actually knew about Chismire’s crimes and did nothing to intervene to stop them,” the lawsuit states.
Messages left for hospital officials and Chismir, 38, of Baden, Beaver County, were not immediately returned Tuesday morning.
“Move away”
Chismir, who became a licensed nurse in 2009, began working at Heritage Valley in 2017, the lawsuit says.
However, the complaint alleges, hospital management was aware of Chismayr’s troubled history, which included being fired from two previous positions and having his nursing license suspended for three years for stealing medications.
According to the lawsuit, Chismire’s alleged drug abuse continued from the beginning of his time at Heritage Valley.
Nurses, including his wife, reported Chismayr’s behavior to their superiors but were rebuffed, the lawsuit says.
It cites examples of other hospital nurses coming to Khomyk to report on Chismir.
In one instance, the complaint states, nurses saw Chismire enter the staff restroom and then go upstairs, “at which point emergency room nurses entered the room to see and photograph a freshly used orange tourniquet, used syringes containing hypodermic needles, and empty bottles of intravenous Valium that Chismire had used seconds earlier to inject a stolen controlled substance.”
When the nurses took the photos to Khomyk, the lawsuit says, she scolded them and ordered them to “back off.”
Failure to report?
The lawsuit alleges that Chismir falsified medical records to reflect that controlled substances were prescribed when they were not, and that he stole for his own use leftover medications from bottles that were not completely emptied.
Chismayr’s wife, who also worked as an emergency room nurse, told a co-worker about her husband’s addiction in 2022, the lawsuit says. That colleague reported the information to Khomyk, the lawsuit says, but he took no action.
At least six nurses, in addition to Gallo and Duckett, reported to Chomyk about Chismayr’s behavior, the complaint says.
The lawsuit alleges hospital officials failed to report the alleged misconduct to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as required.
“HVHS management and healthcare leaders not only failed to take steps to stop Chismire’s ongoing criminal behavior, but also took additional steps to cover up this criminal behavior—and thereby ensure its staggering consequences for patient care and safety,” the complaint states.
According to the lawsuit, hospital employees removed a camera from a controlled substance storage room that showed drugs being improperly disposed of; the CEO cut police staff in the emergency department, and Chomyk lied to the state nursing board in 2024 when they came to inquire about Chismire.
The lawsuit alleges that hospital officials fear being held liable, both criminally and civilly, for Chismire’s misconduct and that the allegations could harm Heritage Valley’s ongoing merger with Allegheny Health Network, from which they expect large bonuses.
“(D)ecovery of their crimes would undermine the transition process and thus deprive them of the large golden parachute payments they covet,” the complaint states.
AHN declined to comment.
“Sentinel Events”
The lawsuit also alleges four unreported “sentinel events” in which a patient was exposed to death or serious harm due to a patient safety event unrelated to the underlying medical condition.
In the fall of 2023, Chismir was working in the emergency room when he failed to recognize or treat severe lacerations on a patient’s arms caused by a machete, the lawsuit says. He sent the patient back to the waiting room unattended for two hours, where another nurse later found him with life-threatening blood pressure and pulse due to blood loss, it continued.
Then in the spring of 2024, a 70-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency department for treatment with a non-life-threatening condition.
However, according to the lawsuit, Chismire did not pay any attention to her for several hours.
“Chismir, who was high at the time and then rushed to cover up his extended absence, made a medication error that ultimately killed this Medicare enrollee,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges the hospital system failed to report the incident as required by federal law.
Another sentinel event cited in the lawsuit involved a 47-year-old man suffering from alcohol withdrawal.
The lawsuit alleges that Chismir did not provide him with adequate care, causing the man to leave the hospital. He fell in the parking lot, suffered a head injury and later died after being transferred to Allegheny General Hospital.
The fourth incident involved a patient who arrived in severe pain in December 2024 but reported never feeling relief despite Chismir reportedly being given morphine.
According to the lawsuit, Duckett recalls hundreds of times doctors and nurses spent more than an hour searching for Chismayr because he was not providing care to patients while families and patients complained.
Rehabilitation and suspension
According to the State Nursing Council, Chismir was fired from Villa St. Joseph in Baden in 2009, eight months after an alleged drug addiction.
According to the complaint, Chismir was fired from Allegheny General Hospital in 2012 after five weeks on the job following allegations of diversion of morphine, fentanyl and Ativan.
After AGH reported him to the State Board of Nursing, Chismir entered treatment at Gateway Rehabilitation Center in 2011. However, he continued to relapse, and at one point broke into his parents’ home and stole from them, the lawsuit says. His mother filed criminal charges, the complaint says, but agreed to drop the charges when Chismire agreed to participate in a 14-month residential program in the spring of 2012.
He completed it on May 31, 2013.
In December 2013, Chismir petitioned the state nursing board for reinstatement. Nearly a year later, the petition was approved, the lawsuit says, under strict conditions, including a three-year probationary period.
The Board of Nursing showed Chismire’s license was valid with an expiration date of Oct. 31, 2026, according to state records Tuesday.
Criminal court records show Chismire was convicted of driving under the influence as a result of an October 2011 arrest in Beaver County, for which he was sentenced to two years intermittent with electronic home monitoring.