PLAINS TWP. — A registered nurse is accused of assisting in an emergency surgical procedure on a patient at Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center while under the influence of alcohol. 
 
 Richard J. Pieri, 59, of 132 Edge Rock Drive, Drums, is charged with reckless endangerment, driving under the influence and public drunkenness. A summons was issued for him Monday, according to court documents. 
 
 The charges stem from a Feb. 4 incident in which Pieri allegedly staggered into the hospital and struggled through his duties before aiding in the procedure. Pieri was responsible for prepping and retrieving the patient, preparing surgical materials inside the operating room, documenting the procedure and monitoring the subject’s vital signs, according to the affidavit. 
 
 It was unclear Monday if Pieri was still employed at the hospital. Reached Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center said he was unable to comment on personnel matters. 
 
 Video surveillance obtained by police allegedly shows Pieri emerge from his Honda Ridgeline truck and collide with a concrete barrier while walking into the medical center just before midnight. He nearly falls after stumbling several times, the affidavit says. 
 
 A physician’s assistant claimed Pieri was “definitely not himself” that night, the affidavit says. He allegedly grew agitated after having difficulty logging onto a VA-issued computer and entered incorrect time stamps into the computer that documented the time the operation began and concluded. 
 
 The patient, who has not been identified, was readmitted to the hospital after the procedure due to stomach pains, the complaint says. 
 
 Asked during an interview with police why they would want to question him, Pieri allegedly said, “I guess it has something to do with me being drunk on call.” 
 
 Pieri later told police he consumed approximately four or five beers while playing slots at Mohegan Sun Pocono casino and had forgotten he was on call when his pager went off advising him of the surgery. He allegedly admitted to police he knew he wasn’t supposed to be part of a surgery while intoxicated. 
 
 Pieri has been licensed as a registered nurse since March 1979 and has no prior disciplinary action against him, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State. 
 
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 By Joe Dolinsky [email protected] 
 
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 PLAINS TOWNSHIP -- A nurse is charged with being drunk while assisting on an emergency surgery at the VA Medical Center near Wilkes-Barre. 
 
 He admits he was at a casino drinking when he was called into work. 
 
 It was a little before midnight on February 4 when on-call nurse Richard Pieri of Drums got called to the VA Medical Center near Wilkes-Barre for an emergency surgery. 
 
 Police say there's video of him stumbling through the parking lot before he headed inside and helped with an emergency appendectomy. 
 
 Court papers say Pieri wasn't acting himself that night, had trouble logging into a basic computer system, didn't log the time of the operation correctly, and showed other signs, too. 
 
 A coworker anonymously reported him. 
 
 "Patient safety is paramount. We want to be sure our patients are safe. As soon as we were notified of the event, we made sure there were no unsafe situations for our patients and then we did the further investigations," said VA Medical Center executive assistant to director William Klaips. 
 
 Veterans Affairs police interviewed Pieri. According to court papers, he told them he had four or five beers while playing slots at the nearby Mohegan Sun Casino. He had just gotten home when he got paged to come in. 
 
 He was responsible for preparing the patient, preparing the material in the operating room, and monitoring that patient's vital signs during surgery. 
 
 Stanley Bilwin has received a lot of care at the VA. He blames the nurse, not the medical center. 
 
 "I get really good care up there. The doctors, everybody up there is usually great, real good. They cured cancer, I got a hernia done, a lot of stuff," Bilwin said. 
 
 Pieri is charged with recklessly endangering another person, DUI, and public drunkenness. 
 
 He told police he knew it was wrong to come to work drunk, but forgot he was on call. 
 
 A VA spokesperson says he has been removed from any direct patient care while this criminal case and investigation continue. 
 
 The VA believes the situation had no impact on the patient.
– Shortly before midnight on Feb. 4, Richard Pieri was called to the VA Medical Center near Wilkes-Barre, Pa., to assist with an emergency appendectomy. The problem: The 59-year-old nurse had forgotten he was on call and spent the night drinking four or five beers at a local casino, WNEP reports via court documents. Even so, Pieri drove to the hospital, where a camera showed him walking into a concrete barrier and nearly falling in a parking lot, police allege, per the Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader. He then prepared the patient and operating room, documented the surgery, and monitored the patient's vital signs. A co-worker reported Pieri after noticing he was "definitely not himself," had difficulty using a computer system, and failed to correctly record the time of the operation. A complaint notes the patient was readmitted to the hospital with stomach pains after the surgery, but the VA believes Pieri’s conduct had no effect on the patient. "As soon as we were notified of the event, we made sure there were no unsafe situations for our patients and then we did the further investigations," a hospital rep says. Pieri now faces charges of reckless endangerment, DUI, and public drunkenness. He has been removed from direct patient care. When police asked Pieri why they might want to question him, he responded thusly: "I guess it has something to do with me being drunk on call."