A nurse is facing serious charges after allegedly stealing valuable jewelry from elderly patients at Wellstar North Fulton Medical Center. Stephanie Phillips-Siwiec,54, is accused of committing the thefts during overnight shifts.
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Phillips-Siwec stands accused of taking four rings from 87-year-old dementia patient Patricia Gaskins. The theft allegedly took place between 1 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. while Gaskins was admitted to the hospital following a fall, as reported by the Daily Mail. Despite an X-ray at 2 a.m. showing the patient still wearing her rings, she noticed the jewelry was missing when she returned to her retirement home. The stolen items included a yellow gold wedding band and a diamond-set gold wedding set valued at $5,800.
Police stated that Phillips-Siwec used hand sanitizer to forcibly remove the rings, resulting in a dislocated finger and a cracked bone. The theft was discovered after Gaskins’ daughter, Carolina Ortloff, contacted authorities. “You lose faith in humanity at that moment, that this happened in a place where someone is supposed to be cared for,” she said. Ortloff hopes to recover the rings since they hold sentimental value as they belong to her mother and late father.
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Phillips-Siwec confessed to using hand sanitizer to remove the rings, and she was charged with abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the elderly. The nurse also faces three counts of robbery and aggravated battery. However, this is not the first allegation against her, as she’s been accused in a separate incident involving a 95-year-old patient whose gold bracelet went missing after she was transferred to a hospital room. The bracelet had been on the patient’s wrist when she arrived at the hospital.
Wellstar Health System said in a statement that she was placed on administrative leave. They are cooperating with the authorities and apologizing to patients and their families. Phillips-Siwec is held on a $140,000 bail and has been ordered not to work as a nurse or have contact with individuals over the age of 75.