COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – A western Iowa mental health professional was fired from a hospital last year after being accused of twice showing up for work drunk.
State records indicate Cally Evans, 38, was working last year as a hospital’s mental health technician and was employed by Alegent Health Bergan Mercy Health System, which has operated hospitals in both Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska.
According to state records, Evans was working in an Alegent hospital on Nov. 11, 2025, when a shift supervisor detected the smell of alcohol on her breath and observed she had a flushed face, bloodshot eyes, and had difficulty standing upright. She was taken to the emergency room of the hospital where she allegedly admitted she was under the influence of alcohol and was given a written warning.
Two weeks later, on Nov. 27, 2025, several of Evans’ coworkers allegedly noticed her acting in unusual manner — speaking slowly, slurring her speech, and running into doorways and into a printer. Evans also fell asleep at the nurses’ station, the hospital later alleged.
Evans’ supervisors advised her she needed to submit to a suspicion-based drug and alcohol test. A certified toxicology technician then administered two separate breathalyzer tests, spaced 15 minutes apart. The hospital alleged the first test produced a result showing a blood-alcohol level of 0.198, more than double the legal limit for driving, while the second test showed a level of 0.193.
Evans was fired on Dec. 1, 2025, after which she applied for unemployment benefits. Initially, she was deemed eligible and collected $4,168 in benefits.
Alegent appealed that decision, and recently Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Adkisson ruled Evans was fired for disqualifying workplace misconduct and was not entitled to collect unemployment benefits.
Two other hospital workers fired
Other Iowans whose unemployment cases were recently decided include:
— Barry Smith, who worked for Broadlawns Medical Center as a business systems analyst from February 2022 until he was fired in April 2025. State records indicate that in April 2025, a firm that conducts random audits of Broadlawns’ personnel data determined that Smith’s educational credentials, as represented to the hospital in 2022 when he was hired, had been fabricated. Specifically, Smith was alleged to have claimed he had a college degree, which he did not, and that he had submitted a falsified document that suggested he had a degree.
At his subsequent hearing for unemployment benefits, Smith allegedly admitted he did not “formally” graduate, but believed his previous military experience should have counted toward a degree and so the fabricated credentials should be considered valid. Administrative Law Judge Dan Steen ruled recently that Smith was not entitled to jobless benefits. Smith, Steen ruled, “admits that he knew he did not graduate with the credential in question. This misconduct is substantial and disqualifying. Benefits are denied.”
— Jennifer Conley, who worked for the Lucas County Health Center as a registered nurse from May 2019 until January 2026 when she was fired. She was accused of manually editing the time at which the hospital’s electronic medication record system recorded when medications were given to patients, in violation of a policy that prohibited such alterations.
In March 2025, Conley was issued a written notice of discipline for “giving medications to patients and then changing the time in which it was being administered.” In January 2026, the hospital allegedly discovered Conley had again made edits to the medication record, once on Nov. 15, 2025, and once on Dec. 5, 2025. On Dec. 12, 2025, Conley allegedly charted that she had given medication to a patient, but a subsequent audit showed the drugs were never pulled from inventory to be administered.
After she was fired, Conley was awarded unemployment and collected $1,244 in benefits. Recently, Administrative Law Judge Jasmina Sarajlija ruled Conley was not entitled to benefits, finding that she had “been warned that manually editing the time a medication is administered” was a policy violation, she “continued to engage in similar behavior.”
Conley’s Iowa nursing license is in good standing with the Iowa Board of Nursing, with no public record of any discipline.
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