Nova Scotia

2nd nurse cleared of forgery in Cape Breton patient's death

A second health-care worker in Cape Breton has been acquitted of forgery in connection with the death of a 79-year-old hospital patient two years ago.

Valerie MacGillivray found not guilty of using a forged document after patient wandered from secure unit

Forgery-related charges were laid against two nurses after an elderly patient left Cape Breton Regional Hospital on Feb. 23, 2018, and was found unresponsive several hours later. (Tom Ayers/CBC)

A second health-care worker in Cape Breton has been acquitted of forgery in connection with a hospital patient's death.

Valerie Marie MacGillivray, 49, of Glace Bay was charged with using a forged document after an elderly man left a secure unit in the Cape Breton Regional Hospital on Feb. 23, 2018.   

Colin Francis MacDonald, 79, was found outside the hospital several hours later and died of hypothermia.

MacGillivray, a licensed practical nurse, and Tammy Carrigan-Warner, a registered nurse, were accused of falsifying health records to indicate that they saw MacDonald in his bed when he was actually missing.

MacGillivray was acquitted Tuesday by Judge Diane McGrath following a trial in Sydney provincial court.

Carrigan-Warner was acquitted earlier this month.

Testimony during both nurses' trials suggested another patient in the ward was known to wander and get in other people's beds.