A Northern Coloradonurse accused of groping and kissing the breasts of his drugged patients managed to get a new job and new license after being fired from hospitals — and reported —in two states, prompting questions about why he was allowed to roam among hospitals despite his alleged misconduct.
As investigators in Colorado and Nebraska builtthreecriminal cases against 43-year-old Thomas Moore, public documents obtained by the Coloradoan show hecontinued to work in health-care facilities after being fired amid complaints of sexual misconduct .Moore faces nine felony counts — the latest announced last week —related to sexual misconduct involving women he had unsupervised access to through his continued employment.
The investigation of Moore raises questions about gaps in licensing and screening processes for those hired to work with potentially vulnerable patients in the highly regulated health-care industry.
TIMELINE: How a twice fired nurse flew under the radar
Among theColoradoan investigation's findings in the case:
- Moore was fired by health-care providers twice before criminal charges were brought against him, but was able to land jobs in other facilities. One Coloradohospital hired him last year only weeks after he was terminated from another system.
- Heobtained a license to practice nursing in Wyoming while he was under investigation by detectives in Fort Collins.
- Heallegedly acted inappropriately for years, but it wasn't until one woman came forward and police announced an ongoing investigation that numerous other alleged victims came forward. Delays in patient reporting meant providers were not aware of many of the undocumented complaints.
- Even if a nurse is convicted of a crime, self-reporting within 45 days is often the only way the Colorado Board of Nursing becomes aware of an incidenton a nurse's record.
- Colorado law does not allow the state board of nursing to mandate health-care facilities or employers to report disciplinary measures to the licensing board. That's because the group that oversees licensing is not the same groupthat oversees employer operations.
- State law does not allow the Colorado Board of Nursing to conduct criminal background checks on applicants seeking toobtain a license. Applicantsare subject instead to criminal records reviews through the existing complaint process.
- A multi-state compact that includes Colorado "requires" states to report disciplinary actions as well as "significant investigatory information" to an online database. However, being fired and reported in a compact state did not affect Moore's license in his home state, nor did it stop him from getting a new license in a non-compact state.
"One bad nurse is one too many,"saidDawn M. Kappel, spokeswoman for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, in a telephone interview. She added less than 1 percent of all nurses are an issue. There are more than 3 million registered nurses in the U.S., including about 57,000 in Colorado.
MOORE:Charges mount for NoCo nurse accused of groping
From degree to disgrace
Moore's record in the medical field datesto 1995 when he was first licensed as an emergency medical technician. In 1998 he completed a nursing aide training program. Among the demonstrated skills his trainer signed off on was astipulation to respect patient rights,according to state records obtained in a Coloradoan open records request.
Moore in December 2005 completed requirements for his associatedegree in applied science at Front Range Community College in Fort Collinsand he passed an assessment test to become a registered nurse on Jan. 11, 2006. The Colorado Board of Nursing licensed Moore as an RN for the first time following that test.
Moore was employed at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley from March 9, 2000, to March 14, 2012, at which time he voluntarily left for another position outside of the Banner Health system, an organizational spokeswoman confirmed.
He then worked as a traveling nurse and took a 13-week job at a facility in San Antonio,Texas,in March 2012.Criminal complaints against Moore have not been associated with his employment at either NCMC or facilities in Texas, nor have complaints surfaced in Alaska, There, state records show Mooreheld a nursing license for about two years before surrendering it voluntarily.
University of Colorado Health hired Moore as a registered nurse in September 2013. In a new job close to his birthplacein Greeleyand long-time residence in Eaton,the nurse known as "Tom" allegedlygroped female patients' breasts and kissed their chests while they were under the influence of potent painkillers.
NURSE: 9th charge filed in alleged hospital gropings
A woman contacted Fort Collins Police Services on Aug. 13, 2015, to report a bizarre incident she said unfolded nearly two years prior in the Poudre Valley Hospital Emergency Room.
It was Christmas Eve 2013. Thewoman went to the ER after experiencingsevere abdominal pain, police wrote in sworn statements. As is customary, she was led to a room that was separated from other beds by a curtain. She asked for and was given morphine to dull the stomachdiscomfort. Shesaid she felt "out of it" and regained consciousness some time later.
As the woman awoke,she observeda nursenamed Tom fondling her bare breasts and kissingher neck and chest.She laid there, hands at her side. Later she toldpolice she felt like she should have done something.
Tom left quickly, but as she was being discharged, he escorted her out and reportedly said "I'll find you, Sweetie."
A few days later, she received a Facebook friend request from him.She told police she thought the man wanted to have an affair with her.
FORT COLLINS: Second woman claims former PVH nurse groped her
The details of her casebecame the first publicized in the investigation into Moore, but not the last. He wasaccused of engaging in similar behaviors for years but his alleged victims did not come forward until seeing news reportsearlier this year.
After the Christmas Eve incident gained widespread media attention, police linked the alleged wrongdoing to patient complaints from March 2014 and April 2015 at the Greeley Emergency and Surgery Center, also operated by UCHealth.
A woman on March 6, 2014, was given morphine while being seen for abdominal pain. On multiple occasions — including another time when she was seen at a facility in Nebraska — the man she knew as "Tom" would tend to her. In March, he began massaging her, reachingdown her hospital gown until his bare hands touched her breasts. She waited several months before reporting the allegationto the Greeley Police Department.
She didn't want to file charges, court records show.
Another woman reported Moore would hang out at the nurse's station and watch her while she was being treated. Later, the woman said shefelt like she was being stalked and reported the instances toGreeley ER staffers in April 2015.
Those two alleged incidents led to the only documented complaints against Moore.They preceded his June 2015firing from the UCHealth system, records show.
UCHealth Spokeswoman KellyTracer said the organization does background checks, employment reviews, credential verification and reference reviews with all employees as part of its hiring process. However, she refused todiscuss information about Moore's case, citing an ongoing investigation and efforts to cooperate withlaw enforcement.
Tracer also declined to discuss existing protocols related to complaint investigations, or if any policy changes are plannedin the wake of the felony chargesagainst Moore.
"Patient safety is a top priority for UCHealth. All allegations of inappropriate conduct are taken seriously and carefully investigated, and disciplinary action will be taken anytime an employee is found to have violated our code of conduct or acted inappropriately toward a patient," Tracer wrote.
"UCHealth received two patient complaints related to this nurse. UCHealth thoroughly investigated both incidents, reported them to local police and the Colorado Board of Nursing, and terminated the employee involved."
Prolematic process
Investigators spoke with three other women who were treated in 2014 and 2015 at the UCHealth Emergency Room in Greeley.
One woman being seen for kidney stones in June 2014 told police Moore laid in bed with her, caressing her chest.Another reported the nurse was excessively flirtatious during a February 2015 visit. Before she left the hospital, she received aFacebook friend request from Moore.
Inappropriate massages were reported in almost every encounter investigated.
MOORE: New attorney for nurse accused of groping patients
In spring 2015, a complaint against Moore led to his terminationfrom Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Moore was reported to the state licensing board, according to a statement the hospital provided in a news release earlier this year.
However, it remains unclear whether the Nebraska board shared information of Moore's termination with other members of a multi-state nursing compact that allows personnel to be licensed in one state and work in one of 24 other states across the country, including Colorado.
While the consortium's goals include erasing borders and getting nurses to where they are most needed, its challenges are documented. The compact is only strong if individual states followup on cases. State boards act as the governing body for licensing.Most states supply documentation and disciplinary actions to a database on www.nursys.com, givingthe health-care community and general public quick access to information on personnel.
But no public record of penalties exists in that database forMoore's Nebraska case. The state declined to answer what was done with that complaint information.
"As far as complaints against health-care professionals, state law doesn't allow us to provide information about whether or not a complaint was filed," wrote Lea Bucco-White, public information officer for the state of Nebraska.
A USA Today-ProPublica investigationin 2010found dozens of examples of nurses whose primary licenses remained clean "for months or longer after another compact state barred them from working there." The investigation also highlighted systemicoversights, varying state standards and differing extent of background check processes.
The compact has worked to address those issues since that investigation. Still, half of U.S. states have refrained from joining the compact, some citing concerns about oversight while others maintain they don't want to be hindered by confusion with compact statuses.
Wyoming, for example, has legislation pendingthat would make the state a member of the "enhanced" compact. It attempted to become a compact state 10 years ago, but the background screening process was not viewed as being strict enough, Cynthia LaBonde, executive director of the Wyoming State Board of Nursing, said in an email to the Coloradoan.
Currently, 80 percent of all state boards of nursing require a criminal background check before a license is issued.Colorado is not one of those states.
Twice fired, newly hired
Despite being fired from facilities in Nebraska and Colorado and facing allegations of inappropriate touching, Moore continued in his nursing career for the six months leading up to his arrest Dec. 21, 2015.
He was fired from UCHealth in Junebut hired the next month as a nurseat North Suburban Medical Center in Thornton. The hospital stands by its screening process.
"As standard process, we engaged a firm to conduct a background investigation, which includes contacting former employers, a criminal background checkand confirmation of training, certificationand state registration," wrote Dan Welch, spokesman for North Suburban, in a statement to the Coloradoan."We also conducted a pre-employment drug screening."
Moore was issued a nursing license in Wyoming on Sept. 21, 2015 — three months after being fired by UCHealth and reported to the Colorado Board of Nursing, and a month after Fort Collins police began speaking with the alleged victim from the Christmas Eve 2013 case.
The Wyoming board summarily suspended Moore's license Feb. 29.
Colorado officials took the same action Jan. 6, the day after news broke about the ongoing investigation.
"The reporting of its action by (Colorado Board of Nursing)was what prompted (the Wyoming State Nursing Board)to investigate.There was no report prior to this.Thus, there was no information that would have precluded his being licensed in Wyoming," LaBondewrote.
"WSBN does do criminal background checks and there was no adverse information.There is always a risk that from a timing standpoint, investigation of alleged wrongdoing may not be reported.This does not typically occur unless there is a final action," she wrote.
Mandatoryself-reporting ofconvictions coupled witha complaint process that encourages the public to report alleged wrongdoingare the main waysthe state board can take action and suspend a license, officials say.
"While (the Division of Professions and Occupations)actively collaborates with local and federal law enforcement and other state agencies ... state law does not allow the Board to mandate reporting by individuals or entities other than those they regulate,"wrote Cory Everett, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs.
Health-care facilities and employers are not regulated by DORA, and state law prevents the board of nursing from conducting criminal background checks — instead licensees are "subject to criminal records reviews through the complaint process," Everett said.
Next steps
Moore was fired twice amid allegations of misconduct, but no records precluded him from getting a new nursing license outside of Colorado.
Delays in reporting from patients contributed to a reported lack of apaper trail documenting the alleged wrongdoing.
States' ranging laws on background checks and documentationraise questions about what the results of earlier reporting might havehadin for the first case.
"In the past, a nurse under investigation might move to another state to seek licensure," wrote Kappel, with the national council, in an emailed statement. "We now have mechanisms to share information and to ensure that those who are high risk for harm are not as mobile as in the past.
"However, boards of nursing are dependent upon nurse employers and other organizations who utilize the services of nurses to report misconduct or violations of the nurse practice act," she wrote.
Moore's wife filed for divorce after news broke of his arrest. She could not be reached for comment for this story.
Moorehas been arrested twice and charged with nine felony counts of sexual contact with an incapacitated victim and sexual contact by providing a false medical exam. Another misdemeanor assault charge has been filed in Nebraska, and criminal proceedings spanning three counties and two states are ongoing.
Mooreis next due in a Weld County courtroom Wednesdayfor a possible plea deal for the Greeley-based allegations and in aLarimer County courtroom March 28 for the first documented casealleged wrongdoing that happened more than 26 months ago at PVH.
He is being held in the Weld County jail and bond has been set at $100,000.
Anyone with additional information or who believes theymight be a victim is asked tocontact Fort Collins Police Detective Dan Calahan at 970-416-2051 ordcalahan@fcgov.com.Residents can also contact Crime Stoppers of Larimer County at 970-221-6868 where they will remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward. Crime Stoppers can also be reached online atwww.stopcriminals.org.
Reporter Jason Pohl covers public safety for the Coloradoan. Follow him on Twitter: @pohl_jason.
