Former Nurse Charged with Stealing Drugs

A former nurse at MercyOne/Covenant Hospital in Waterloo has been accused of taking pain medication from at least 50 women in the maternity ward, according to the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. 43 year old Christina Olson, also known as Christina Hovey, has been charged with Acquiring a Controlled Substance by Deception, Adulteration of a Drug with Intent to Defraud and Making False Statements in Health Care Matters. Prosecutors say since January of 2022 Olson would access hydromorphone, fentanyl and oxycodone under the guise of filling orders for patients. She would allegedly keep the drugs for personal use and bill the patients insurance companies. This lasted until March of 2022 when a new father noticed they had been charged for drugs his wife never received. The hospital did a drug test on Olson the next day. She tested positive for opiates and marijuana. She admitted the scheme and relinquished her nursing license in August of 2022.