The North Dakota Board of Nursing has dismissed a complaint alleging the board's executive director violated the Nurse Practices Act.

The board decided at a special meeting Friday morning to dismiss the complaint without an investigation and pursue the matter as an issue between the board as an employer and Connie Kalanek as an employee.

Shelly Peterson, president of the North Dakota Long Term Care Association, and Arnold Thomas, president of the North Dakota Healthcare Association, sent a letter dated July 11 to the governor's office, the attorney general's office and the Board of Nursing, dealing with concerns about the board's plan to implement criminal history checks. The letter also addressed a potential conflict of interest on the part of Kalanek, executive director of the board.

Kalanek's son, Bill Kalanek, is a part owner of IDMetryx, a local vendor originally chosen by the board to process the criminal history record checks. The letter alleged Kalanek knowingly did not disclose her son's relationship with the business, therein violating portions of the Nurse Practices Act which authorizes the board to discipline anyone who "has engaged in a pattern of practice or other behavior that demonstrates professional misconduct" or "has submitted to the board any information that is fraudulent, deceitful or false."

The letter asked for an "independent investigation" into the allegations. At a previous meeting, Brian Bergeson, a special assistant attorney general who represents the board, said the matter should be handled like a complaint against any other nurse. He explained that such complaints usually are referred to a disciplinary review panel. However, board members make up the panel, which would not be seen as independent.

The board authorized Bergeson to confer with the attorney general's office about putting together an independent panel to review the complaint and to respond to Peterson and Anderson.

At a special meeting Friday morning, Assistant Attorney General Bill Peterson said the board first needed to decide whether the complaint warranted an investigation. He pointed out that the situation may be more of an issue of the employee-employer relationship between the board and Kalanek, who is considered a staff member.

Several board members objected, saying they already had authorized an investigation and wanted assistance from the attorney general's office in putting together an independent investigatory panel.

During an ensuing discussion, many board members said they didn't feel it was Kalanek's intent to deceive the board about her son's involvement in IDMetryx. Board President Buzz Benson and former President Joann Sund said they were aware of the relationship. Mary Tello-Pool said she and other members were not aware of it.

Benson said he did not think Kalanek's intent was nepotism or to give advantage to any one company.

"Maybe we made a bad decision, or maybe we could have used better judgment," he said.

Tello-Pool said she was uncomfortable with the information being withheld during presentations about IDMetryx and thought the information about Kalanek's son should have been brought up at earlier board meetings.

"I'm not saying it was intentionally withheld," she said.

Following a motion by Sund, the board voted seven to one to dismiss the complaint against Kalanek without an investigation. Tello-Pool was the lone dissenter and said after the meeting she voted against it because it was her understanding that the board had authorized an investigation at the July meeting.

After further discussions, the board determined the matter to be an employee-employer issue.

Board member Char Christianson moved that the board of nursing's executive committee meet with Kalanek and talk about the allegations and report to the full board at the September meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

The board is scheduled to meet again on Sept. 18.

Thomas, from the healthcare association, said his organization and the long term care association first became interested in the board of nursing's criminal history checks policy when they learned IDMetryx would charge fees in excess of what other licensing boards in the state were charging. Upon further research, they learned of Kalanek's son's involvement in IDMetryx and thought it may be a conflict of interest.

Peterson, from the long term care association, was out of the office Friday afternoon.

The two groups decided to bring it to the board's attention so it could be looked into further, Thomas said.

"On its face, it was concerning,"he said.

Thomas is pleased that the board is dealing with the issues. He said the board's decision to handle the matter as a personnel issue was "not atypical" of how similar matters are handled by other boards and companies, both private and in the government.

At its July meeting, the board of nursing revised its criminal history checks policy to put it in line with other state agencies. Now, nursing candidates can get fingerprinted by local law enforcement or other authorized agencies and submit the prints to the state Bureau of Criminal Investigations for criminal history checks. Private vendors, like IDMetryx, can be used if approved by the board of nursing.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com.)