Two and a half years after the death of Reid Emery outside the Down East Community Hospital, a state board has revoked the nursing license for the nurse supervisor at the hospital who allowed Emery, who was elderly, disoriented and heavily medicated, to be discharged during a severe snowstorm and without means of transportation. Emery's body was found the next day near the hospital entrance.

On June 4, the Maine State Board of Nursing revoked the nursing license of John Zablotny, 44, of Steuben for incompetent nursing practice and unprofessional conduct.

Zablotny's employment with DECH ended three weeks after the incident, on January 21, 2008. DECH then filed a complaint concerning Zablotny with the board of nursing on February 1, 2008, and another complaint was filed by Emery's sister, Sally Emery, on February 26, 2009.

Concerning the delay in action by the state board, Kate Simmons, a special assistant to the Maine attorney general, says that the state licensing board had different legal options that it had to explore and the investigation took a long period of time. The Attorney General's Office worked with the licensing board in deciding on the action to take against Zablotny.

Emery's death triggered investigations by state and federal agencies that regulate health care facilities, which eventually led to DECH's receiving a conditional state operating license and nearly losing Medicare and Medicaid funding. The hospital's operating license was fully restored last March, after DECH underwent a quality improvement process.

Emery had been admitted to DECH on December 27, 2007, for treatment of abdominal pain. During the day on January 1, 2008, a snowstorm developed and Emery, while still receiving pain medication, began asking to leave the hospital, according to a press release from the Attorney General's Office. Nurses advised him that he was too weak to leave the hospital and that his family was not able to return to the hospital to provide him with transportation because of the storm.

That evening, Zablotny, the supervising nurse, provided Emery with a form for the patient to sign if he was leaving the hospital against medical advice. According to the release, prior to Emery's discharge, Zablotny failed to review Emery's medical records to determine his medical status, which included the medications administered to the patient. Zablotny failed to properly assess Emery's medical condition and ignored the advice of other staff members that Emery was confused and weak. Emery signed the discharge form, and Zablotny pointed him to the front exit of the hospital unescorted. Against the advice of hospital staff, Zablotny did not call the local police department. He also did not check to see if Emery had transportation or a specific destination and did not ensure that he was properly clothed.

Emery left the hospital at approximately 8:20 p.m. and was wearing a pair of brown slippers, socks, pants and a flannel shirt. Between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. the inner set of hospital doors were unattended and locked from the outside, and Emery would have been unable to get back in through the doors he exited. At the insistence of Emery's family, the police were called at 9:25 p.m. to search for him.

Emery's body was found on the afternoon of January 2, approximately 18 feet from the hospital building wall. The medical examiner determined that he died of hypothermia and opiate toxicity.

"Nurses have a moral and ethical responsibility to use common sense and compassion to protect the patients that they care for," stated Attorney General Janet Mills in the release. "Anything less puts patients lives at risk."

Zablotny's nursing license was revoked for two years. He must also pay the cost of the hearing and a fine of $1,500. The Department of Health and Human Services will not be taking any legal action against Zablotny, since it is only concerned with hospitals.