Nurse claims clinic put patients at risk and retaliated against her

An advanced registered nurse practitioner is suing a central Iowa medical clinic for allegedly firing her after she complained of patients being put at risk.

Tracy Drinkard is suing DoctorsNow Walk-In Care of Polk County in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Drinkard is an Iowa-licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner, and DoctorsNow, which is owned by Dr. David Stanek Jr. and Dr. Eric Stanek, operates medical clinics in West Des Moines, Johnston and Altoona, offering urgent and primary care, as well as weight-loss and dermatology services.

According to the lawsuit, DoctorsNow hired Drinkard on Jan. 15, 2023, to provide primary care services to patients in return for an hourly wage of $62.50. The lawsuit asserts Drinkard routinely worked more than 40 hours per week without being paid overtime wages.

Drinkard contacted a DoctorsNow human resources administrator in October 2025 and formally complained about the company’s failure to pay overtime, according to the lawsuit.

Months before, in the spring of 2025, Drinkard alleges, she had informed David Stanek that she believed the clinic was carrying unsafe patient volumes and providing inadequate clinical staffing. The lawsuit asserts Drinkard suggested patient care might be compromised because she was required to see patients at seven-minute intervals and because there was only one clinical support staff member to assist two medical providers.

According to the lawsuit, Drinkard resigned in October 2025, effective Jan.15, 2026, citing the “ongoing high patient volumes and lack of adequate support” that she said “made it increasingly difficult to provide safe and effective care.”

On Oct. 20, 2025, she allegedly reported DoctorsNow to the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing for remaining open and continuing to see patients at a clinic where the building’s water supply was shut off for one to two hours. Days later, the lawsuit claims, Drinkard also reported to DIAL that David Stanek had suggested she dispense pharmaceutical samples to cash-paying, weight-loss patients while they awaited delivery of their mail-order medications.

That complaint alleged DoctorsNow was charging patients for a medical weight-loss plan and then providing them with free samples while also failing to record the distribution of those samples in the appropriate logbook.

On Nov. 21, 2025, Drinkard’s attorney asked DoctorsNow for contact information for the company’s attorney. According to the lawsuit, DoctorsNow prematurely terminated Drinkard’s employment the next day.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for violations of the overtime provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, for workplace retaliation, and for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy.

In response to the allegations, DoctorsNow has denied any wrongdoing and asserted that every element of the claims made under the Fair Labor Standards Act is barred by the statute of limitations.

A trial date in the case has yet to be scheduled.