MACHIAS, Maine — A nursing supervisor whose license was revoked for two years after a patient died in a snowstorm outside the local hospital is back in court this week.
John Zablotny, who discharged Reid Emery from Down East Community Hospital during a January 2008 snowstorm, had his nursing license revoked by the Maine State Board of Nursing in 2010. Emery, a 61-year-old Eastport resident who was heavily medicated and left the hospital wearing only a pair of brown slippers, socks, jeans and a flannel shirt, was found dead the next morning in a snowbank not far from the hospital entrance.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled in March 2014 that Zablotny, of Steuben, was improperly denied a hearing that led to his license being revoked for two years. The court’s unanimous decision remanded the matter back to Machias District Court for a new revocation hearing.
Testimony Tuesday centered on hospital policies regarding releasing patients against medical advice.
Reid Emery had been brought by ambulance to the hospital on Dec. 27, 2007 suffering from stomach pains. On Jan. 1, 2008, he asked to leave but was advised by nurses that he was too weak to leave and that his family was not available to pick him up. Nevertheless, Zablotny provided Emery with discharge papers.
Assistant Attorney General Andrew Black and Zablotny’s attorney Joe Baldacci could not immediately be reached for comment.