Hillcrest Patient Says Doctor Touched Her Inappropriately On Two Occasions

A Green Country woman said a doctor touched her inappropriately while she was inside of a shower in her hospital room at Hillcrest Hospital last fall.

Shellie Lane said she still has nightmares about what happened and she's outraged the doctor is now practicing at a hospital in Michigan. She wants to warn others, so he doesn't do this to any other patients.

She's suing him and Hillcrest, where they said he was working as an independent contractor.

Shellie said she was in the hospital last August 19, when Doctor Chad Reid came in, picked up her chart and asked her questions.

She said when she mentioned she had survived breast cancer in 2008, he did this: "Just unsnaps my gown and pulls it down and was all over me and says, 'your breasts are fine' and turns and walks out of the room."

She said he wasn't her doctor and it was weird, because her scheduled surgery had nothing to do with her breasts.

However, it's what she said happened the next day that really shocked her.

She said she was instructed to shower before her surgery, when someone knocked on the shower door.

She said the same doctor opened her shower door and stepped one foot inside with her, while she was naked.

"He said, 'I just need to listen to you real quick, won't take but a minute.' I said, 'I'm taking a shower.' And he said, 'it won't take but a minute,' and got his stethoscope and pretended to be listening but had his hands all everywhere," Shellie recalled.

She said a nurse came in, saw Shellie in distress, asked what happened, and reported it immediately to her supervisor and others.

Shellie had her surgery and was discharged, then received a letter dated August 31, from the medical staff president at Hillcrest.

The letter said he had reviewed the situation and found an opportunity for improved communication and apologized for her feeling uncomfortable.

Shellie said the medical staff president never talked to her and that's when she told her story to an attorney.

"It made me sick and when I read the letter from Hillcrest explaining to this lady, everything was okay, to go away, I wanted to puke," Paul Boudreaux, attorney.

He said Reid was a licensed doctor in Oklahoma who worked as a private contractor hired out as a hospitalist; a doctor who provides care for people in hospitals.

Oklahoma's state medical board website said Reid went to medical school in the Caribbean and has let his license here expire.

The law firm confirmed Reid is now working at Mercy Grayling Hospital in Michigan.

"He's basically a traveling predator. He's a coward and he's avoiding process," Boudreaux said.

Boudreaux said every time they try to serve Reid with the lawsuit, he takes off. They're also suing Hillcrest and six other businesses.

He said Reid has no insurance and needs to have his license revoked.

"My concern is, this isn't the first time he's done this and it won't be the last time. And he's just going about doing this across the country and nobody in the medical profession wants to take responsibility for having him out in the public doing this," Boudreaux said.

Shellie said she agreed to share her story, in order to protect other patients, especially those who who are too elderly or sick to speak up.

"I don't care if it just saves one patient from being a victim of his. I'll do it over and over every day," Shellie said.

Hillcrest was called for their side of the story and said they cannot comment at this time due to pending litigation.