Kingston Police lay charges against former KHSC employee alleged to have posed as nurse
After it was announced in February that a person had fraudulently gained employment as a nurse at Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC), Kingston Police have now laid charges in that case three months later.
On February 1, 2023, KHSC filed a report with Kingston Police regarding the former employee, who had used false credentials to gain employment with the Kingston-based health care organization, which oversees a number of local hospitals including Kingston General Hospital (KGH) and Hotel Dieu Hospital. A few days later, both KHSC and Kingston Police made the information about this incident public, listing where the fraudulent employee had worked and providing contact information for any former or current patients with concerns.
Despite multiple inquiries regarding this incident from Kingstonist, neither KHSC nor Kingston Police provided any updates on the case until today, Thursday, May 4, 2023, when Kingston Police announced charges had been laid.
“Following an investigation by the Kingston Police Fraud Unit, a 22 year-old individual turned themselves in to police on Wednesday, May 3, 2023,” police said in a press release.
According to police, the individual was charged with:
- Fraud over $5,000
- Using false pretenses
- Three counts of uttering (making/using) a forged document
“The accused was released on an undertaking with a future first appearance court date,” Kingston Police said.
Since the incident was announced, the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) has had one person consistently listed in its unregistered practitioners listing, which documents those who have fraudulently represented themselves as qualified nurses in Ontario (though there is currently another person listed who worked unregistered in Kingston, Belleville, and Trenton). Kingstonist reached out to both KHSC and Kingston Police to confirm if that person, Madeline Stenhouse, and the person charged are one and the same. For their part, Kingston Police said they will not be providing the identity of the individual charged in this case. KHSC also refused to identify the person involved and charged.
This is a developing story. Kingstonist will provide updated coverage as more information becomes available.