WARSAW — Whitley Memorial Hospital, inc., doing business as Parkview Warsaw Medical Complex, is being sued by Stacie Bobeck, a former employee, for wrongful discharge.

According to documents filed with the Kosciusko County Clerk, Bobeck stated that on Oct. 15, 2015, Parkview employed her to assist in the creation of an emergency department at the medical complex and to manage the department and its employees when the the ER opened and became operational.

On April 20, an employee under Bobeck’s supervision reported a potential Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violation by an non-employee physician who was in the ER. Bobeck reported she conveyed the information about the possible violation to her supervisor, who recommended Bobeck ask the employee to fill out a report on the facility’s incident reporting system.

The employee under Bobeck’s supervision asked for Bobeck’s assistance in filling out the report. She completed the report for the employee and she asked if what she had written was correct. The employee stated it was correct and Bobeck submitted the report.

On April 22, Bobeck’s supervisor told her the report had been changed, per legal, because it was “falsified.” Six days later Bobeck’s employment was terminated without notice and she was told she was no longer a right fit for Parkview leadership.

Bobeck claims she had a spotless record and had been given only near perfect evaluations by her supervisor. Bobeck also claims she was never contacted by Human Resources for an interview regarding the incident and to the best of her knowledge, neither was anyone else involved.

Bobeck claims her employment was terminated because she submitted a report of the non-employee physician’s potential violation of the HIPAA confidentiality requirements.

The HIPAA Privacy Rule protects confidential health information and provides a baseline of standards to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of personal health information and public policy strongly supports the reporting of suspected violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule and confidentiality requirements.

Bobeck claims she had a duty and an obligation under HIPAA to report the suspected violation and Parkview retaliated against her for the reporting the suspected violation by terminating her employment.

Bobeck is suing to recover lost wages, both actual and prospective.