B.C. nurse loses licence over sexual misconduct
A nurse sexually assaulted a 73-year-old patient he was supposed to be treating for a foot wound and can no longer practise as a registered nurse, according to the College of Registered Nurses of B.C., which cancelled his registration.
The college, whose mandate is to protect the public through the regulation of 40,000 registered nurses and nurse practitioners, is now warning the public that the former nurse, Gary Dromarsky, poses a potential public risk.
He is a repeat offender and failed to obey limits on his practice put in place last fall when the complaints surfaced. The limits included ceasing all private nursing care, working only for his then-current employer and seeing female patients only with a chaperon. Dromarsky breached the conditions soon after by providing foot care to private home care clients.
“Anyone considering hiring Mr. Dromarsky for private foot care services should exercise great caution,” the college warns, noting that other agencies have been notified of the case, including the Victoria police, the Vancouver Island Health Authority and the Ministry of Health.
In the first cases of misconduct, Dromarsky admitted in 2009 that on two occasions he “massaged” patients when treating them for other purposes.
At the time, Dromarsky said he “missed cues that the massages were unwanted.” In the latest case of misconduct, which dates to an incident last fall, Dromarsky reached under the panties of a private home care patient, grabbed her buttocks and admits he may also have rubbed the area between her anus and vagina. The victim reported his hands on her vagina; it was her brother who filed a formal complaint to the college about Dromarsky’s conduct.
Dromarsky, who now lists his residence as Vancouver on some social media sites, could not be reached for comment. It appears he has not updated his professional status on LinkedIn as he is shown as being an RN for Vancouver Island Health Authority.
He states that he has been affiliated with VIHA for the past 11 years. He reports being a barber before he became a nurse in the late 1980s.
Dromarsky has not been charged criminally in any of the cases reviewed by the college.
Johanna Ward, a spokeswoman for the college, referred Postmedia News to police about whether Dromarsky is being investigated.
Victoria police spokesman Bowen Osoko said: “We can’t confirm or deny the existence of potential ongoing investigations. To do so could violate an individual’s privacy rights, as well as negatively impact an investigative process in the event that one was in place.”
“We’re only able to comment in such circumstances where doing so is in the public interest — aiding in identifying witnesses, gathering evidence or notifying the public of potential risk,” Osoko added. “In the event an arrest is made and charges sworn, or warrant issued, we would release more information about an ongoing investigation.”
Ward said the initial 2009 complaint about Dromarsky came from an employer and referenced a 2007 incident that was never reported to the nursing regulator. He was working in both private homes and long-term care facilities or other residential facilities. She said the massages he did then were inappropriate, but not “overtly sexual in nature.”
Nine years ago, he was not suspended but agreed to remedial education and chart audits. Asked why Dromarsky wasn’t punished more severely then, Ward said processes have evolved in the past decade because of increased volume and complexity of complaints.
“Today,” she said, “we are able to commit more resources to investigations and legal support. We will continue to evolve our processes and practices in keeping with our mandate to protect the public.”
The college said in a statement that Dromarsky ’s misconduct falls at the most serious end of the spectrum and for that reason, he won’t be able to reapply for reinstatement as a nurse again for five years.
The Dromarsky case comes on the heels of another case involving a home care nurse abusing a position of trust. That case was also on Vancouver Island and resulted in revocation of the nurse’s licence. Such action is rare and occurred only twice last year.