- Dr. Jonathan Morgan and Dallin Caudle sued Portneuf Medical Center for retaliation.
- They allege reporting unclean surgical tools led to workplace issues and retaliation.
- U.S. investigation found PMC failed to ensure safe patient care in Sept. 2025.
POCATELLO — A local neurosurgeon and a medical device distributor have fired back at Portneuf Medical Center, claiming in a new lawsuit that they were retaliated against after reporting the hospital was using dirty surgical tools.
Dr. Jonathan Morgan, who used to be affiliated with the Portneuf Medical Center but is now working at Caribou Medical Center, according to a Facebook post, and Dallin Caudle, a senior spine sales representative, according to his LinkedIn page, are separately suing the hospital, alleging they were illegally retaliated against.
In September 2025, officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conducted an "unannounced on-site complaint investigation" at Portneuf Medical Center. The investigation found the center "failed to ensure patients received care in a safe setting for 1 of 6 patients whose medical records were reviewed."
EastIdahoNews.com first reported on the allegations and investigation into the dirty surgical tools in October.
Investigators found dirty surgical instruments were not being properly cleaned and noted an increase in surgical site infections, leading to an "extensive investigation into the incidents," according to the results of the formal complaint.
The findings say the tool vendors had access to the sterile processing area where medical professionals were leaving trays, and the people in charge of cleaning the tools did not know which trays had been pre-cleaned.
At the conclusion of the investigation, remediation plans to correct the problem were put in place, such as revoking the vendor's access to the Sterile Processing Department and "implementing a 'hard stop' where if staff were not familiar with instruments, they would not reprocess them," according to the complaint results.
After the investigation, the center told EastIdahoNews.com that the issues had been fully resolved and that it quickly identified the problem, initiating an extensive internal investigation almost immediately after the issue was discovered.
EastIdahoNews.com reached out to Portneuf Medical Center for a statement on the retaliation accusations. It sent the following statement:
"We do not comment on pending litigation. We take these matters seriously and believe the allegations brought forward have no merit. Our focus continues to be on providing high-quality care and supporting our teams."
Caudle's lawsuit
According to court filings, Caudle is suing Ardent Health Partners, a for-profit healthcare company, Portneuf Medical Center, Dr. Roger Passmore (Portneuf Medical Center's chief medical officer), Nate Carter (Portneuf Medical Center's chief executive officer) and Debra Schneider (Portneuf Medical Center's nursing manager).
Caudle is also suing employees at Ardent Health, including Lora Deanne Heikkinen (regional clinical resource director), Jason Ehrlinspiel (chief compliance officer) and Aleigha Wortham-Brown (Sterile Processing Department employee), but these three are only being accused of count III in the lawsuit, for intentional interference with a prospective economic advantage.
Portneuf Medical Center is owned by both Ardent Health Services and the Portneuf Health Trust.
The others are accused of violating Idaho's Whistleblower Protection Code, tortious interference with contract, intentional interference with a prospective economic advantage, defamation, violation of the Idaho Racketeering Act, false light invasion of privacy, quasi-estoppel, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
According to the lawsuit, Caudle owns Dallin J. Caudle LLC, a medical device distributorship in Bannock County, where he and his company "provide assistance to surgeons and other medical providers, particularly providing spinal and neurosurgical products and assistants in Idaho."
Caudle's company reportedly had agreements with multiple manufacturers whose products were used by neurosurgeons practicing at the center. In 2023, he began providing in-room technical support, surgical instrumentation, and device expertise for procedures performed by Morgan and other neurosurgeons, according to the lawsuit.
Portneuf Medical Center reportedly gave Caudle credentials to enter restricted areas, attend surgical procedures and interact directly with operating room and Sterile Processing Department personnel.
The lawsuit states that in 2023, Morgan, Caudle, and other surgical staff "began noticing serious problems with the hospital's sterilization practices," such as "which surgical trays and instruments were returned from the Sterile Processing Department with visible bioburden, residue, or incomplete disassembly, creating serious risks to patient safety and infection control."
In the lawsuit, Caudle states his and Morgan's "legal, professional, and moral responsibilities are directly connected to the health, safety, and welfare of people who get surgery when either of them is involved."
Caudle reported, among other things, "visible residue, caked-on blood, and incomplete disassembly of medical implements, tools, and devices." The hospital's operating room management and administrative leadership, and the defendants allegedly "blamed (Caudle) and others and "tried to 'pass the buck.'"
After reporting the concerns, Caudle says he and Morgan began experiencing new issues at work, which they believe were retaliation for raising cleanliness concerns.
"Culture tests ordered by Dr. Morgan to assess sterility were delayed, cancelled, or blocked by hospital administration in several instances," the lawsuit says. "Based on what Caudle learned, this was in retaliation for reporting the problems. This retaliation affected Dallin's work and is part of the basis for this lawsuit."
The lawsuit claims that in 2025, meetings were held between the Sterile Processing Department, including Caudle and Morgan, and hospital leadership about the unclean surgical tools.
"Ms. Schneider and members of the SPD staff disputed the extent of the issue and expressed clear frustration toward Dallin for raising the concerns," the lawsuit claims. "At least one person expressing frustration with (Caudle) had been placed on leave for behavioral issues and later returned to work. Within weeks of that person's return, she complained to management that Dallin had called her "'incompetent.'" Caudle said this statement was untrue.
In late spring of 2025, after a surgery involving a very "young immuno-compromised trauma patient," Caudle reportedly discovered dried blood inside a cannulated instrument that had been certified as sterile, the lawsuit says.
