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Harveys Lake Borough Council member Thomas Kehler’s residency under investigation

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A registered nurse is still on the job despite allegations he assisted in a surgical procedure while drunk.</p><p>Richard J. Pieri, 59, of Drums, is no longer in a patient care position at the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center but is still working at the hospital, spokesperson Bill Klaips confirmed Wednesday. Klaips added that an investigation is pending into claims Pieri on Feb. 4 staggered into the hospital and aided in emergency surgery after drinking four or five beers at Mohegan Sun Pocono casino.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re doing our investigations, but he&#8217;s out of the patient care aspect until we can figure out what&#8217;s going on,&#8221; Klaips said. &#8220;We want to make sure our patients are safe.&#8221;</p><p>Charges of reckless endangerment, driving under the influence and public drunkenness were filed against Pieri on Feb. 17. A summons was issued Monday, but an official with Magisterial District Judge Joseph D. Spagnuolo Jr. said Pieri will not be required to appear before a judge until a preliminary hearing slated for March 29.</p><p>Video surveillance allegedly shows an off-balance Pieri teeter on his walk into the hospital on Feb. 4 just before midnight, at one point colliding with a concrete barrier. He nearly lost his balance and fell after several stumbles, according to a police affidavit.</p><p>Kelly Yale-Suda, a fellow nurse who worked with Pieri for six years, said he was &#8220;definitely not himself&#8221; in the operating room that night and witnessed him struggle to enter his password into a hospital-issued computer, the affidavit says.</p><p>Pieri, whose job duties include monitoring the patient&#8217;s vital signs, preparing surgical materials and documenting the procedure, allegedly entered a surgery length of 13 hours when the procedure took less than 30 minutes.</p><p>The patient, who remains unidentified, was later readmitted to the hospital with stomach pains, the affidavit says.</p><p>Asked during an interview with police why they would want to question him, Pieri allegedly said, &#8220;I guess it has something to do with me being drunk on call.&#8221; The affidavit says he later told police he was drinking while playing slots at Mohegan Sun Pocono casino and had forgotten he was on call when his pager went off advising him of the surgery.</p><p>State records show Pieri has been registered as a nurse since 1979.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Richard J. Pieri, 59, faces charges of reckless endangerment, DUI</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

VA Medical Center says nurse accused of assisting surgery while drunk is still on the job