A Des Moines area respiratory therapist is facing multiple disciplinary charges from state regulators, including negligence in the practice of the profession.
Records of the Iowa Board of Respiratory Care and Polysomnography show that respiratory therapist Philip A. Kester, 41, has been charged with habitual intoxication or addiction including the excessive use of alcohol or drugs in a manner that might impair a licensee’s ability to practice skill and safety.
He is also charged with negligence in the practice of the profession, failure to cooperate with an investigation of the board, and failure to respond within 30 days to a communication from the board.
The board has not publicly disclosed any of the alleged actions that led to the filing of the charges other than to say they occurred at some unspecified time in the past when Kester was practicing in Des Moines.
A board hearing on the matter is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2026.
State records indicate Kester was first issued an Iowa respiratory care practitioner’s license in May 2012.
Court records indicate that in November 2019, Kester was arrested and charged with drunken driving. According to a police report, he was stopped for driving the wrong way on E.P. True Parkway in West Des Moines, showed signs of being intoxicated, and then refused to submit to a preliminary breath test. After pleading guilty to a charge of first-offense drunken driving, Kester was sentenced to one year of probation.
In February 2021, Kester was arrested again on a charge of drunken driving. In that case, Ames police alleged they found Kester’s vehicle in a ditch with Kester still inside the car. According to the police report, Kester showed signs of inebriation and testing showed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.275 – more than three times the legal limit for driving. After pleading guilty to second-offense drunken driving, Kester was sentenced to one week in jail and one year of probation.
