State regulators suspend license of former medical director of Hospice of Spokane

The state has suspended the medical license of Pierre J. Soffe, the onetime medical director of Hospice of Spokane, citing noncompliance with a treatment program for alcohol abuse.

Chris Bugbee, a local attorney who has represented Soffe, said the physician and surgeon is pursuing his own treatment program through the courts and will “do everything he needs to do to get his license reinstated.”

“He just really feels like he’s doing well and this is just a kick in the gut,” Bugbee said.

Soffe, 61, was referred to the Washington Physicians Health Program last summer following his third arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. In February 2015, Soffe was swerving on Interstate 90, ran a red light at Harvard Road and led Washington State Patrol troopers on a chase that ended at his Otis Orchards home, according to court records.

Prosecutors initially charged Soffe with driving under the influence, eluding police and resisting arrest. He later pleaded guilty to reckless driving in district court, receiving a 31-day jail sentence in December.

Bugbee said Soffe, who told WSP officers he was employed as a physician at Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake at the time of his February 2015 arrest, is appearing weekly before Spokane District Court Judge Donna Wilson and attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings twice a week. Soffe has taken the last year off from practicing medicine to take care of his problem, Bugbee said.

“He’s doing all the right things,” Bugbee said.

Soffe was named medical director of Hospice of Spokane in February 2003 and served there through 2008, a hospice spokeswoman said Tuesday. Soffe is no longer employed at Eastern State Hospital, a Department of Social and Health Services spokeswoman said.

The Medical Quality Assurance Commission, a state agency responsible for reviewing complaints and allegations of misconduct by doctors, found that Soffe was in violation of an agreement with the Physicians Health Program to receive approved treatment and that “imminent risk of harm to patients and the public exists.” There are no allegations in any of the commission’s filings referencing Soffe’s medical performance.

Soffe has 20 days to request a hearing before the commission to reconsider the license suspension, according to state law.