Former BGH CFO jailed for embezzlement

SANDPOINT — Bonner General Health’s former chief financial officer was sentenced Friday to 90 days in jail for embezzling more than $200,000 from the hospital.

Norilina Salvatierra Harvel declined to address the court before the sentence was imposed by 1st District Judge Barbara Buchanan.

Harvel, 48, was charged with grand theft for a series of schemes from 2012 to 2014. The thefts were uncovered last year, after Harvel took another job with a hospital in Colorado.

Harvel entered into a plea agreement which proposed a withheld judgment for five years and 90 days of local incarceration. Buchanan agreed on Friday to bind herself to the pact due to Harvel’s lack of a prior criminal record and an assessment which ranked her as a low recidivism risk. If Harvel successfully completes five years of probation and pays $217,075 in restitution, the conviction will be removed from her record.

The bulk of the restitution has already been repaid, leaving approximately $60,000 to be repaid. Buchanan noted that Harvel drained her retirement accounts in order to begin paying BGH back.

“She’s ready to move forward and put this behind her,” said Craig Zanetti, Harvel’s defense counsel.

Hospital officials said Harvel purchased a piece of medical equipment, sold it to a leasing outfit and kept the proceeds. She then used misappropriated funds to cover the lease payments. Harvel also claimed to have purchased another piece of equipment that was never actually bought.

Hospital officials contend Harvel exploited the significant amount of trust that was placed in her to establish bogus a checking account and post office box in the hospital’s name to maintain the schemes.

Hospital CEO Sheryl Rickard has said the thefts had no material impact on hospital operations and BGH’s accounting procedures were strengthened in the aftermath of Harvel’s misconduct.

What motivated the misconduct, however, remains unclear. Harvel has declined to comment throughout the proceedings and hospital officials were at a loss to explain why a well-regarded employee with a low six-figure salary opted to break bad.

Harvel’s motivation apparently was not revealed in a presentence report because Buchanan found Harvel’s conduct “inexplicable.”

Buchanan acknowledged that some in the community would expect Harvel to receive a prison term, but said such a sentence would largely amount to punishment for punishment’s sake.

“You’re going to be working for the next several years and the majority of the income you can earn will be going to pay restitution,” said Buchanan, adding that Harvel has expressed a great deal of remorse for her misconduct.

The brief hearing ended with the sound of metallic ratcheting of handcuffs being placed on Harvel’s wrists.

Rickard released the following statement after Harvel was sentenced.

“We would have liked a longer jail sentence however, it is more important that she pay back the funds that she took from the hospital, which can only happen if she is working and not in a jail cell. We are pleased that paying restitution is a condition of her probation,” Rickard said in the statement.