Nurse, Victim of Impostor, May Be on Road to Recovery

Bertha Dorsett, a respected registered nurse, has grown tired of telling people that it is her real name. “It’s been awful, but it’s true,” she said Friday. “I am Bertha Dorsett.”

For the last 18 months, Dorsett, 46, has had to prove her identity over and over--to satisfy the Internal Revenue Service and state Franchise Tax Board; to show authorities that she had not committed forgery and fraud, and to prove she is a competent nurse.

Challenging her professional skill was the last straw.

“I am a good nurse,” she said.

Authorities may have put an end to Dorsett’s misfortune with the arrest Thursday evening of Hazle Jean Wright, 37, who is suspected of impersonating Dorsett since March, 1986.

Los Angeles Deputy City Atty. Sue Frauens said Wright was arrested by investigators from the state Department of Consumer Affairs at a Long Beach convalescent hospital where she apparently was using her real name.

Wright is not only suspected of working as a registered nurse without a license. She also is accused in an unrelated case of defrauding some elderly people out of $41,000, authorities said.

Frauens said Wright, who is being held without bail, faces four misdemeanor counts of impersonating a registered nurse. In addition, she will be arraigned Monday in Long Beach Municipal Court on charges stemming from the alleged fraud.

But what really puzzles investigators is that Thursday’s arrest marks the second time Wright has been apprehended for impersonating Dorsett, a Los Angeles resident, Frauens said.

Wright pleaded no contest on Jan. 27 to charges of displaying a nursing license--Dorsett’s--which was not issued to her. She was placed on probation with the requirement that she never impersonate a registered nurse again.

Goes Back to Work

“Unknown to us, after her court appearance, she went to work as Bertha Dorsett at another convalescent hospital,” Frauens said.

Said one investigator: “We’re still trying to figure it all out.”

Dorsett said her problems began on March 31, 1986, when she met briefly with Wright at Marina Convalescent Hospital in Culver City, where she had arrived that day to take over as head of the nursing staff. Wright had just submitted her letter of resignation.

A short time later, Dorsett was mugged and her purse was stolen. At the same time nearly everything in her personnel file at Marina Convalescent was stolen. Dorsett could not identify her attacker and there were no arrests in the mugging or the theft.

After that, Dorsett’s life, in her words, became a nightmare.

Wright allegedly worked at several convalescent hospitals, using Dorsett’s identification and license. At one hospital, Wright worked four days before officials checked with the state Board of Registered Nursing because they were suspicious of her lack of nursing skills.

Frauens said Wright was fired from the job, and the dismissal was later reported to state health officials.

Dorsett reported her problems to state and local authorities.

“State health people sent a bulletin about Bertha Wright, aka Bertha Dorsett, getting fired,” Dorsett said. The bulletin apparently led authorities to apprehend Wright the first time.

But after being placed on probation, Wright allegedly began impersonating Dorsett again. Investigators would not say how Wright was able to convince new employers that she was Dorsett.

Investigators also would not reveal how they were able to track down Wright the second time.

Having Trouble

Meanwhile, the real Dorsett was having trouble persuading others that she had not been fired and that she was a competent nurse.

“I mean, I even teach nursing classes and before long, my classes started to shrink in size,” Dorsett added.

She said she has been questioned about alleged forgeries and fraud and was passed over for a $44,000-a-year job at a hospital. “They were real interested in me and then boom, the job was filled and they were real curt with me on the phone,” Dorsett said.

Dorsett said she is still reeling from one telephone call she got at Marina Convalescent Hospital last week.

The caller asked for the director of nursing, not knowing that Dorsett held the job. When she came on the line, the voice said, “We’re calling for a (job) recommendation for Bertha Dorsett.”

“Why would you want that?” she asked. “I am Bertha Dorsett.”

“No, you’re not,” the caller insisted. Dorsett said the person on the phone called her a liar and hung up.