Additional Coverage:
- Camp Mystic nurse who ‘abandoned’ little girls during deadly flooding has license suspended (themirror.com)
The Texas Board of Nursing has suspended the license of Mary Liz Eastland, co-director and medical officer of Camp Mystic, following a sharp reprimand accusing her of failing to assist children during the devastating floods last year that claimed the lives of 25 girls and two teenage counselors.
This disciplinary action marks one of the first official responses targeting members of the Eastland family, who own and operate the all-girls Christian camp. Last month, amid intense backlash from the victims’ families, Camp Mystic announced it would not reopen this summer as initially planned.
Eastland, a registered nurse, has admitted in court that she did not attempt to reach children and staff stranded in the camp’s low-lying areas as the Guadalupe River’s floodwaters surged in the early hours of July 4. Tragically, her father-in-law, Richard Eastland, the camp’s owner, also perished in the flood.
According to the order signed by Kristin Benton, executive director of the Texas Board of Nursing, permitting Eastland to continue practicing nursing poses a “continuing and imminent threat to public welfare.” The order states that Eastland “abandoned the campers and staff when the campsite began to flood … by evacuating herself and her children to higher ground without providing any assistance or direction to all of the other campers and staff.”
Eastland and her legal counsel, Joshua Fiveson, have rejected these findings and intend to challenge the suspension. Fiveson criticized the board’s process, highlighting that the license was suspended with less than a day’s notice before a hearing, without hearing testimony or conducting a comprehensive investigation. He described the suspension as “premature punishment” and a “sad day” for Eastland and nurses across Texas.
The board is expected to issue a final ruling on Eastland’s license within the next two months.
Since the tragedy, the Eastland family has faced mounting scrutiny from both victims’ families and state lawmakers. Several lawsuits alleging negligence have been filed against the family, whose earlier attempts to reopen the camp were met with public outrage and ultimately abandoned.
In legislative hearings held this April, officials revealed critical deficiencies in Camp Mystic’s flood emergency planning, including reliance on inadequately trained staff and missed opportunities to evacuate campers housed near the river.
During these hearings, Mary Liz Eastland recounted her experience on the night of the flood. She described escaping her home as water poured in and shattered a window, then regrouping with family members on higher ground. Eastland and other staff conducted a headcount of survivors but said she was unable to reach campers trapped by rising floodwaters near the Guadalupe River.
When questioned about why she, as the camp’s chief medical officer, did not alert other medical staff to assist with evacuation efforts, Eastland replied, “Maybe so,” leaving questions about the adequacy of the camp’s response in the face of the deadly disaster.