Columbus woman arrested for impersonating a nurse
COLUMBUS, Ind. (WISH) – A woman was arrested in Columbus after police say she was posing as a registered nurse at several assisted living facilities in south-central Indiana.
Police say in December they got a tip that 45-year-old Holly M. Whyde was impersonating a registered nurse. Investigators found that Whyde had been doing this for the past four years at several Indiana health care businesses including two in Columbus.
In unrelated court documents, 24-Hour News 8 found her address matched where police arrested her Thursday. Those documents also showed that she listed Kindred Healthcare as her employer and that she was a director of nursing.
They say she used information online to piece together her fake nursing identity and it helped her get several jobs over a four year period. Investigators said she used the license of another woman from Northern Indiana with a similar name.
“It’s not different than a doctor or any other professional in another field,” said Lt. Matt Harris of the Columbus police department. “They’re expected to have a certain amount of knowledge and a registered nurse has quite a bit of responsibility that they’re trusted with. This is why we’re glad that this person is in custody and not going to be able to do this any longer.”
Investigators also say that Whyde had provided patient care and may have worked as a licensed practical nurse, but could find paper work to confirm she had a license.
Police took Whyde into custody around 7:30 a.m. Thursday. She was later turned over to the U.S. Marshals on preliminary charges of false statements relating to health care matters and aggravated identity theft.
Kindred Transitional Care and Rehabilitation in Columbus released this statement Friday morning:
We became aware that the former Kindred Transitional Care and Rehabilitation Columbus Director of Nursing Services was under law enforcement investigation related to allegations of identity theft. When we learned this we conducted our own investigation. We have been and will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities on this matter. The individual who has been charged is no longer employed here.
