The Texas Board of Nursing has temporarily suspended the license of Camp Mystic\u2019s chief health officer, saying her continued practice \u201cconstitutes a continuing and imminent threat to public welfare.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s suspension order<\/a> said Mary Liz Eastland failed to develop and maintain adequate emergency plans and training protocols before a July 4 flood killed 25 campers and two teenage counselors at the all-girls Christian camp. She also failed to keep adequate shelter and evacuation protocols, the order said. <\/p>\n Joshua Fiveson, an attorney for Camp Mystic, said Eastland rejects the allegations, adding that she received notice of the nursing board\u2019s proceeding less than 24 hours before it took place. The temporary suspension was handed down without \u201cthe benefit of testimony, evidence or a complete investigation,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cMrs. Eastland has admirably committed herself to service of others for the last eighteen years,\u201d Fiveson said in a statement. \u201cThis was an exercise in premature punishment. But judgments should not precede process in an ordered system of justice.\u201d <\/p>\n The nursing board\u2019s order said its staff presented evidence and information regarding Eastland\u2019s conduct during Tuesday\u2019s public meeting. It also said a probable cause hearing will be held within 17 days of the order\u2019s filing, with a final hearing to be held no later than the 61st day after the temporary suspension was ordered. <\/p>\n The order, first reported by the San Antonio Express-News, followed a series of emotional court<\/a> and legislative committee<\/a> hearings last month that hammered on the camp\u2019s operational failures during the deadly flood. The Texas Department of State Health Services also told the camp<\/a> in late April that its emergency plan, submitted under an application for a license renewal, was insufficient under new rules for youth camps. <\/p>\n Camp Mystic, which initially sought to reopen portions of the camp this summer, ultimately cancelled its bid<\/a> for an operating license.<\/p>\n Eastland\u2019s nursing license, originally issued in 2008, was renewed in January, according to the nursing board\u2019s data.<\/p>\n The nursing board\u2019s order also said Eastland evacuated her family during the flood \u201cwithout providing any assistance or direction to all of the other campers and staff\u201d or contacting emergency services.<\/p>\n The order called her conduct \u201cdeceptive\u201d for failing to report the deaths of the 27 campers and counselors within 24 hours. Last month, Eastland testified at a court hearing in Austin that she still had not officially reported the deaths to state health regulators.<\/p>\n