A former nurse worked at a surgical center and admitted responsibility for the death of a patient.

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Before a judge sentenced her to prison for her role in a botched plastic surgery that resulted in the death of a patient, a former nurse spent her final weeks of freedom working at a surgery center.

Heather Lang Vass worked at the San Diego Ambulatory Surgery Center in Kearny Mesa and had been working there since the summer of 2023, Team 10 has learned.

The former nurse shielded her face from our camera waiting outside the facility as she finished her shift 10 days before a judge sent her to prison in September.

“I’m shocked that they hired someone who lost his license due to negligence. It worries me very much,” Judith Gorcey said in an interview from her home in Oxnard, California.

Gorcey’s daughter Megan Espinoza died after a botched breast augmentation surgery in 2018 at Divino Plastic Surgery Clinic in Bonita.

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Before surgery, Wass gave Espinoza an excessive and lethal dose of powerful drugs, including fentanyl, Percocet and ketamine. She did not have the legal authority to provide medications and was never authorized to administer anesthesia, according to the California Board of Registered Nurses.

Espinosa’s heart stopped during surgery. Instead of immediately calling 911, Wass and Dr. Carlos Chacon waited for hours while the mother of two was in the operating room, fighting for her life, Superior Court Judge Marianne D’Addesio said at Vass’s sentencing.

“It’s unconscionable to me that she didn’t pick up the phone and call an ambulance,” Gorcey told Team 10.

Chacon and Wass were criminally charged in 2021 for their involvement in Espinoza’s death. In May 2023, Wass pleaded guilty to manslaughter. By August of that year, she had given up her nursing license.

Hired for the position of Quality Assurance Coordinator

That wasn’t a problem for San Diego Ambulatory Surgery Center, which hired her earlier that summer as a “quality assurance coordinator.”

Her hiring raised concerns among some employees who spoke with Team 10.

Employees said the former nurse was hired as a supervisor at the surgery center and supervised nurses and other employees.

One source provided video of Wass standing in the bushes next to a patient who had a seizure after surgery at the center.

“My main concern is patient safety. I mean, we all went to school for a license, so how (can) she be responsible for us if she doesn’t have a license?” said one employee.

The list lists the former nurse as a “supervisor.”

The California Board of Registered Nurses has stated that a license is not required to wear a scrub and stand next to a patient.

The sources spoke to Team 10 on condition of anonymity and said they feared retaliation for speaking out.

Surgery center administrator Susan Danielsen Raub confirmed Wass’ employment at the facility before she was sent to jail.

“We confirm that Ms. Wass has a Master of Science in Nursing from Point Loma Nazarene University and (has worked) at the San Diego Ambulatory Surgery Center in an administrative support position collecting, compiling and disseminating information,” she wrote in the post. email.

However, staff who worked with Wass rejected the center’s characterization of her role at the institution.

“This is not true. She (was) in charge of nurses and other staff, and she actually (was) taking care of patients,” said one employee who provided Team 10 with a photo of a schedule board that listed “Heather” as “supervisor.”

The surgery center did not answer Team 10’s questions regarding Wass’ day-to-day responsibilities and said the company has a policy of not commenting on personnel matters.

Sources said Team 10 Wass gave flu vaccines and tuberculosis tests to the facility’s staff.

The California Board of Registered Nurses told Team 10 that a nursing license is required for this type of nursing work.

“If a person were to perform these tests with a revoked RN license, it would be a violation of the Nursing Practice Act,” said board spokesman Vincent Miranda.

Team 10 asked the board of directors what duties a person could perform in a surgical facility without a license.

Miranda said nursing supervision that requires a significant amount of scientific knowledge or technical skills “should be reviewed and evaluated by another nurse.”

He said any duplicative or related duties that are “not specific to the practice of nursing” can be reviewed and evaluated by a person who is not a nurse but has knowledge in those areas.

Nurse ‘deeply regrets’ her role in mother’s death

At Wass and Chacon’s sentencing hearings, Espinoza’s friends and family pleaded with the judge to impose harsh sentences on both.

“Her children were only 3 and 6 years old at the time of her death, and they don’t remember much about her,” said Mina Sheppard, Espinoza’s best friend, who asked the judge to revoke Wass’ nursing license. for an indefinite period.

Wass apologized to Espinoza’s family and said that as a mother, she couldn’t imagine the pain she caused or imagine her own family coping with Christmas without her.

“I understand that nothing I say today will bring Meghan back to you, and words cannot express how deeply and sincerely I regret my role in her untimely death and how I will be haunted for the rest of my days by what I didn’t call. for help,” Wass said.

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Judge D’Addesio called Wass a continuing threat to society and said the facts of the case could not be more “egregious.”

She noted that Wass admitted to knowingly sedating patients 100 times despite not having permission to do so.

“A hundred times she put her desire for extra money ahead of her own patients,” D’Addesio said, adding that six months before Espinoza’s surgery, Wass over-medicated a patient and accused the client of using marijuana when Chacon couldn’t wake her up.

The judge said the incident spoke volumes about her thinking and attitude toward the people who put their lives in her hands.

“This is disrespectful, dismissive and inhumane to say the least,” D’Addesio said.

The license can be restored

The judge sent her to prison for two years but did not revoke her nursing license indefinitely.

Following the verdict, Team 10 confirmed that Wass could apply to have his license returned.

State law allows nurses with revoked licenses to ask to be reinstated after three years.

Data provided to Panel 10 by the nursing board shows that 224 of 327 nurses have regained their licenses over the past five fiscal years.

Miranda said an administrative law judge reviews reinstatement requests and writes a proposed decision for the nursing board to review and vote on.

Vass will be able to apply for reinstatement of his license in August 2026.

San Diego Ambulatory Surgery Center has not said whether she will be rehired after her release from prison.

Wass’ lawyer declined to comment for this story when approached by Team 10 outside the courtroom.

Chacon was sentenced to three years in prison after take a plea bargain. He agreed to relinquish his medical license indefinitely and is prohibited from seeing patients in California again.

Team 10 investigative reporter Austin Grabish covers the Medical Board of California, military investigations and is a government watchdog. E-mail: [email protected]