LEWISTON – Two nurses were indicted this week on charges of stealing morphine from St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center and St. Marguerite d’Youville Pavilion.

After an investigation by the hospital and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, Carolyn O. Colbourne, also known as Carolyn Gamal-Eldin, was charged with two counts of stealing drugs.

Colbourne, of Manchester, also faces drug charges in Kennebec County, where she worked after leaving St. Mary’s.

In an unrelated case, Susan Daley, a former registered nurse at d’Youville Pavilion, has been charged with one count of stealing drugs and one count of endangering the welfare of a dependent person.

Investigators said the women stole morphine from the two Lewiston facilities. Morphine, a narcotic considered highly addictive, is used mostly for pain relief.

Colbourne, 40, was an on-call registered nurse at St. Mary’s for a brief period in late 2004. Police said she was one of several people called if extra nurses were needed in the hospital’s recovery room.

In early fall, hospital officials noticed discrepancies in their inventory of prescription drugs, according to MDEA supervisor Gerry Baril.

“They pay attention to these details, and they became aware of shortages,” Baril said. “Because of the system they have, they were able to detect this. St. Mary’s is not to be faulted.”

Hospital officials and Baril’s team of drug agents investigated the missing morphine. Their probe led to Colbourne as a suspect. The case was forwarded to the Health Care Crimes Unit of the attorney general’s office.

At the time, the attorney general’s office was already investigating allegations that Colbourne had been stealing morphine and Demerol from MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta, where she worked after leaving St. Mary’s.

That investigation also led to charges. She was indicted last month by a Kennebec County grand jury on four counts of stealing drugs.

Colbourne, whose nursing license has been suspended, pleaded not guilty to the charges in Kennebec County. She is scheduled to appear in Androscoggin County Superior Court next month to enter pleas on the other charges.

Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

A spokesman for the Maine Board of Nursing confirmed that Colbourne’s license was suspended last month. A hearing to determine whether she should be permanently barred from practicing is scheduled for today.

Colbourne also holds licenses in Newfoundland and Florida. The Maine board has notified authorities in both places about the charges here.

Other case

Susan Daley, 51, of Bowdoin, is charged with stealing morphine from d’Youville Pavilion on May 15, 2004. She also faces a charge of endangering her patients.

Marci Alexander, the assistant attorney general who is handling the case, said she could not talk specifically about Daley’s case. But, she said, suspects in these types of cases are generally charged with endangering the welfare of a dependent person when there is belief or suspicion that they were diverting drugs from the patients.

Daley is scheduled to appear in Androscoggin County Superior Court next month to enter pleas on the charges. The drug charge carries a maximum of five years in prison, and the endangering charge carries a maximum of one year.

According to a spokeswoman for the Maine Board of Nursing, Daley has sent her nursing license to the board and has agreed to surrender it permanently, but she has not signed the paperwork to make it official.

Staff writer Lisa Chmelecki contributed to this report.