State board lifts cease & desist for Co. Springs fertility nurse practitioner, can resume work
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - A nurse practitioner at a fertility clinic in Colorado Springs, previously under fire from the state for allegedly performing hundreds of procedures beyond the scope of her license, is now allowed to go back to work.
*This article has been updated as of August 28, 2024 to reflect a statement sent by the legal counsel for Brandis Montez to KRDO13 Investigates.*
KRDO13 Investigates has learned that the Department of Regulatory Agencies, along the Colorado Nursing Board repealed a cease-and-desist letter that was sent to her on July 9, 2024. The letter claimed Montez had been involved in upwards of 750 fertility treatments and procedures that were beyond her scope of medicine, many of which, were unsupervised.
In a now-deleted Instagram post to Montez's public profile, the nurse practitioner wrote in the caption:
"Soooo excited to announce that I'll be back in office on Monday, working at full capacity! Can't wait to keep building families."
It comes after over 6 weeks of being in question by the Colorado State Nursing Board, which left many former patients who saw Ms. Montez on many occasions during appointments, in limbo.
Payge Nichols is a resident north of Denver, who traveled down to CNY in Colorado Springs, between December 2023 and March 2024, spending $14,000 dollars with the clinic for embryo transfers.
"You're working with a very vulnerable population when you choose to work with fertility [patients]." said Nichols.
On July 15th, attorneys for Montez appealed the decision by the state, asking for the cease-and-desist to be lifted.
KRDO13 Investigates has learned that recently, that letter was repealed by the State. A search of the state's licensure database showed that there was no longer a complain listed on Montez's profile.
KRDO13 Investigates is still working to learn the decision process behind the move to allow Montez to go back to working. The Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) issued this response to questions from KRDO13 Investigates, stating:
"Cease and Desist orders issued by the Board of Nursing are subject to an appeal process. Boards may remove a public document from the Division of Professions and Occupations website at their discretion. Any final discipline, should it exist, would be public and available at dpo.colorado.gov.
The Colorado Board of Nursing cannot provide any additional information outside of the previously posted action taken by the Board against Brandis Montez. Active cases and investigations of the Board are not subject to public disclosure pursuant to 12-240-125(9)(a), Colorado Revised Statutes."
-Lee Rasizer, Public Information Officer for DORA
Patients like Nichols, are left with a bitter taste in her mouth about the lack of communication from the clinic, a sentiment many other patients shared on Monday evening in phone calls with KRDO13 Investigates.
"It feels like a little frustrating, but not so much that she's able to practice again, but just that there has been no communication and kind of that CNY just expects their patients to be okay with this." she explained.
Other's stated over the phone that they felt the decision by the state was a positive despite the several weeks since the initial decision, and wanted to wait and see what else may come from the state about the situation.
The legal counsel for Montez sent KRDO13 this statement on August 28, 2024:
Last month, the State of Colorado Nursing Board issued a cease and desist order to one of
CNY Fertility’s double-board certified licensed nurse practitioners at CNY Fertility’s
Colorado Springs office, Brandis Montez, AGACNP-BC, FNP-BC. CNY Fertility
immediately challenged the order, and on August 21, 2024, the Nursing Board rescinded the
cease and desist order. On August 23, 2024, the Nursing Board formally notified Nurse
Practitioner Montez that the cease and desist order had been vacated, permitting her to return
to the excellent patient care she provides. In addition, the cease and desist order was removed
from Nurse Practitioner Montez’s license and the Department of Regulatory Agencies’ public
website. Nurse Practitioner Montez and CNY were in compliance with Nursing Board rules
and orders at all times and cooperated fully with the formal process required to challenge the
cease and desist order and are pleased with the outcome.CNY Fertility’s mission is to help patients on their family building journey. Our patients’
health, wellness, and experience are of the utmost importance to us. The entirety of our CNY
Fertility staff, clinicians, and providers are all carefully vetted, fully licensed, and thoroughly
trained.Nurse Practitioner Montez is double board-certified in family practice and gerontology adult
RechtKornfeld PC Law Firm
acute care with additional licensure granted by the State of Colorado for advanced prescriptive
authority. She is an active member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and
has successfully completed the Nurse Certification Course in Reproductive Endocrinology
and Infertility, in addition to several years of in-person training with oversight and mentorship
from board-certified CNY Fertility physicians and licensed clinical staff who have been
providing excellent fertility care to thousands of patients from around the world for decades.
Nurse Practitioner Montez’s nurse practitioner license is under no restrictions or limitations
from the Nursing Board, and she has returned to her clinical duties at CNY Fertility.
