PITTSBURGH — 11 Investigates has new details on the case of a woman charged with posing as a nurse and being hired to work at nine local facilities with a fraudulent license.
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We know now Shannon Womack was not fingerprinted as a part of her background check to get jobs here in Pennsylvania. We also learned that a law passed two years ago to regulate staffing agencies, which investigators say Womack manipulated to get those jobs, still isn’t in effect.
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11 Investigates uncovered more locations where Womack worked as a nurse, including a hospital and three prisons - all in the state of Georgia.
Here in Pennsylvania, the Department of State says it reviews every complaint received, but other than a healthcare facility making them aware of a concern about an employee, there is nothing that would prevent a person from doing the same thing Womack is accused of.
11 Investigates was able to get a copy of Shannon Womack’s fraudulent nursing license. Police say she stole the identity of a real nurse, Shannon Nicole Parham and used that name to get jobs and steal drugs up and down the east coast. The license, issued by the state of Georgia, shows Shannon Nicole Parham’s license is currently active and unencumbered, which means a “full unrestricted license to practice” by the state board of nursing in 39 states, including Pennsylvania and the territory of Guam. Records show the license was originally issued in October of 2010.
We asked the Pennsylvania Department of State if Womack was fingerprinted as part of a background check before being hired in Pennsylvania. They tell 11 Investigates no.
We reached out to Zach Shamberg with the PA Health Care Association to ask if it’s normal to hire a nurse with a multistate license without fingerprinting.
“It’s not normal and it should have been done,” Shamberg tells 11 Investigates. " But with the advent and the introduction of multistate licenses, is what that does is remove the fingerprinting and some of what I’ll call bureaucratic barriers to employment."
The Pennsylvania Department of State now has a banner on its website that says:
“Effective immediately, new applicants for health care practitioner licenses and multistate licenses issued by the state board of nursing must obtain a fingerprint-based FBI background check.” It goes on to say that those renewing their Pennsylvania or multistate licenses are not required to get a background check.
Shamberg says legislation was passed two years ago to regulate staffing agencies in PA, but those regulations still aren’t written. Investigators say as part of Womack’s crimes, she created her own staffing agency and gave herself jobs.
“We’ve asked the Department of Health multiple times, - why are these laws not enacted? Where is the oversight? Where is the accountability that we fought for,” Shamberg asked.
The license Womack was using fraudulently was initially issued by the State of Georgia. We reached out to ask the State Department there to see if Womack was fingerprinted while using that license, but we have not heard back.
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