West Hartford police have charged a nurse with stealing narcotics from one of her patients.
Lisa Czarnecke, 30, of Bristol, was arrested Saturday.
Police began investigating Czarnecke in May after the family of a patient living at the Hoffman-SummerWood assisted living facility noticed changes in the patient's Percocet and Oxycodone pills.
Large quantities of the pills were missing, and a refill had been ordered even though family members said she should have had plenty to use.
According to police, another nurse at the facility discovered that some of the pills had been replaced by Tylenol and Metformin, a drug used to treat diabetes.
Czarnecke, an LPN, allegedly stole the narcotics and replaced them with diabetes medication she had stolen from another patient, police said. She was feeding her own drug habit, according to authorities.
When asked if Czarnecke still worked at Hoffman-SummerWood, Hebrew Health Care, which operates the facility at 160 Simsbury Road, released a statement Monday.
Local
"At Hebrew Health Care we take very seriously the safety and well-being of the people entrusted to our care We have comprehensive policies and procedures in place to detect any issues that may arise as that care is being administered Thanks to those policies we were able to identify and address this issue, adn the person in question is no longer employed by Hebrew Health Care."
Czarnecke is charged with larceny, illegal possession of narcotics and reckless endangerment. She was released on $20,000 bond. She is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 30.
