Mostly sunny skies. Areas of smoke and haze are possible, reducing visibility at times. High near 85F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph..
A mostly clear sky. Areas of smoke and haze are possible, reducing visibility at times. Low 59F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.
Updated: August 11, 2026 @ 12:30 am
A second trial against Mid-Columbia Medical Center stemming from a former anesthesiologist’s sexual assault of sedated female patients and hospital employees is underway in The Dalles.
A former employee of MCMC sued the hospital and two administrators for $4 million in July 2013. The administrators were later dismissed from her suit, which went to trial last Tuesday. It is expected to last three weeks.
The woman sued for negligent retention and supervision, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual discrimination and hostile work environment.
Anesthesiologist Fredrick Fields pled guilty in 2012 to sexually abusing 11 women and raping another between 2007 and 2011 and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. All 12 were under sedation at the time. Most were patients and two were hospital employees. Fields worked at the hospital for five years.
A previous trial against the hospital and administrators concluded in October 2013 with $2.4 million awarded to three plaintiffs.
In October 2014, four more women settled their case for an undisclosed amount just before it went to trial. In that case, the two administrators, CEO Duane Francis and Dianne Storby, MCMC vice president of operations, were dismissed from the suit.
“We are anxious for the opportunity to tell our story in court,” said Dick Baltus, a spokesman for the hospital, of the current trial.
Earlier this year, a lawsuit against MCMC by another female victim of Fields was dropped, Baltus said.
In all, 12 women filed suit. Not all were involved in the criminal trial. Seven settled, three went to trial in 2013, one dismissed their suit, and the last one is at trial now.
In the 2013 trial, the jury found the hospital liable for injury to the women and awarded compensatory damages, but determined administrators did not act negligently. No punitive damages were awarded.
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