11 May 9th-May 15th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | are scheduled for June 3. Five women file complaints with medical board In addition to the lawsuits, at least five women have filed complaints against Becker to the Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery, the body that licenses plastic surgeons. In addition Ellsworth, Armijo and Culton, Erin Wing and Michelle Ortiz submitted complaints to the board. The board does not send copies of complaints to people who file them and did not respond to a request for comment from New Times. But New Times reviewed emails confirming that the board received the complaints. The women who filed complaints spoke with New Times about their experiences, resulting health complications after their surgeries, dissatisfaction with their results and lasting emotional damage. Three women said that before their surgeries, Becker acted rushed, strange and “like a different person” than the upbeat man who spoke with them during consultations. Four of the women said their medical records, written by Becker’s office, contained inaccurate information. At least four of the women said they did not know until well after their surgeries that Becker’s office manager, Ioana Baragau, was also his girlfriend, a fact confirmed by Becker in court documents. Several also noted in their board complaints they believed Baragau was a nurse because she provided medical advice and care to the women. “All this time, I thought I was talking to a nurse. And I wasn’t,” Ellsworth said in October 2023. When Ellsworth questioned the quality of the operation, she said Baragau became agitated and rude and made angry phone calls to Ellsworth, followed by friendly, encouraging text messages. In interviews with New Times, three other women described receiving similar communica- tions from Baragau. It is unclear whether Baragau is licensed to provide care; she declined to answer New Times’ questions about her training and licensing. Becker’s court response to the Ellsworth lawsuit said that Baragau is a “trained health care provider.” On Feb. 15, Gov. Katie Hobbs sent a letter to the osteopathic board and all of Arizona’s 22 health care licensing boards expressing “grave concern with a lack of transparency and accountability for health care providers” in Arizona. “Reporting by the Arizona Republic and Phoenix New Times has called my attention to the significant risk to protect health and safety that result from insufficient public insight into licensing board decision making processes and outcomes,” Hobbs wrote in the letter. Hobbs ordered the boards to “develop standardized processes for disciplinary action and law enforcement engagement” and submit them to her office by July 1. ‘Wait a minute. This is Banner’ Surgeries of all five women who spoke to New Times were performed at Banner Surgery Center – Estrella in Phoenix. Ellsworth said she was convinced the surgery would be fine since it took place at a facility of Banner Health, the largest employer in Arizona. “I just kept going, ‘Wait a minute. This is Banner. There’s no way Banner would let an inebriated doctor operate on people,’” Ellsworth said. Banner Health referred New Times’ questions about the three lawsuits and five board complaints to Atlas Healthcare Partners, which runs the surgery center and was formed as a joint venture partner- ship with Banner in 2018. Atlas Healthcare said it’s aware of the allegations against Becker, according to Dylon MacEachran, vice president of communications for the company. “We are aware of the allegations brought in the lawsuit against Dr. Becker as he is currently a credentialed provider at Banner Surgery Center – Estrella,” MacEachran said in an email. “We monitor the state medical board daily for any actions made regarding all providers credentialed at any of our managed ambu- latory surgery centers, and Banner Surgery Center – Estrella follows all surgery center policies and med-staff bylaws as they relate to allegations made against any creden- tialed provider.” Surgeon Sued Again from p 10 Three women have sued the doctor who performed their plastic surgeries at Banner Surgery Center – Estrella. (Photo by Matt Hennie)
