The former hospital nurse who has been charged with forging prescriptions for hydrocodone obtained at least 4,000 pills between November and February, according to court documents.

Sherri Anne Silva, 48, Kalama, was booked and released Tuesday after she appeared in court on a summons for 19 counts of obtaining a controlled substance through a forged/altered prescription.

The case is the second recent incident in which someone in a position of respect in the community is accused of illegal involvement with prescription painkillers. Earlier this month, former Clatskanie Police Officer Joe Harrison was arrested on suspicion of entering two homes and stealing hydrocodone and oxycodone.

Court documents allege that Silva, who was the manager of PeaceHealth St. John’s Workplace Wellness Clinic as well as the hospital’s employee health nurse, stole a prescription pad and stamped the entire pad with a doctor’s signature stamp. She is no longer employed by PeaceHealth, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The doctor, who retired in November, told Kelso police he never issued any prescriptions to Silva, court documents said.

The documents do not say what Silva did with the medication, nor how she paid for it.

Police detectives began investigating in February when a Kelso pharmacist became suspicious at the high number of prescriptions Silva had been filling for hydrocodone, as well as the number of refills. Hydrocodone, marketed as Vicodin, is a highly addictive opiate painkiller.

The pharmacist provided detectives with copies of three prescriptions for Silva for 120 pills each in November, December and January, with the latter two marked for three refills, court documents said.

Documents allege that Silva filled 19 prescriptions at two pharmacies in Kelso and one in Kalama after the doctor retired.

Silva’s next court appearance is Sept. 1. She has no previous felonies on her record, court documents said.