The former chief health officer at Camp Mystic has had her nursing license temporarily suspended after Texas regulators concluded that her actions before and during last year’s deadly flooding disaster posed what they described as an “imminent threat to public welfare.”
According to records from the Texas Board of Nursing, Mary Liz Eastland failed to establish and maintain adequate emergency planning and safety procedures at the camp ahead of the catastrophic July 4 flooding that claimed 28 lives. The board’s findings paint a troubling picture of preparedness failures at the longtime Texas summer camp, which has remained under intense scrutiny since the tragedy.
The suspension order alleges that Eastland did not implement proper emergency protocols or training procedures for campers, staff members, and camp nurses despite the camp’s location near flood-prone areas. Regulators also determined that she failed to maintain safety procedures once the flooding began unfolding.
Among the most serious accusations, the board stated that Eastland prioritized evacuating herself and her own children without coordinating broader evacuation efforts for others at the camp. The order additionally claims she failed to contact emergency services in a timely manner, withheld critical information, and improperly delegated medication administration duties to others rather than personally overseeing care for campers.
The Board of Nursing found multiple allegations “substantiated” as part of its emergency action, ultimately deciding that Eastland should be temporarily barred from practicing while the matter moves through further legal proceedings.
The suspension comes nearly a year after the devastating flood transformed Camp Mystic from a beloved summer institution into the center of multiple investigations and lawsuits. Families of victims have already filed legal claims against camp leadership, alleging negligence and failures in emergency preparedness contributed to the scale of the tragedy.
Eastland’s representatives sharply criticized the board’s decision, arguing the suspension was rushed and unfair. In a statement provided to media outlets, a representative claimed Eastland received less than a day’s notice before the proceeding took place and said the board acted before conducting what they described as a full investigation.
“This was an exercise in premature punishment,” the statement said, arguing that Eastland had dedicated nearly two decades to serving campers and families. Her legal team also insisted she intends to challenge the allegations before the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
The response signals what could become a lengthy legal and administrative battle over accountability for the flooding disaster. While the nursing board’s temporary suspension is not a final ruling on Eastland’s license, it reflects the seriousness of the findings regulators say they uncovered during their review.
Eastland graduated from Baylor Nursing School in 2007 and later became one of the directors of Camp Mystic alongside her husband, Edward Eastland. The family has long been associated with the camp, which operated for generations as a popular summer destination for girls in Texas Hill Country.
The tragedy itself sparked widespread public outrage after reports emerged questioning whether more could have been done to protect campers as floodwaters rapidly rose. Previous reporting has suggested that warning systems, evacuation procedures, and overnight monitoring protocols may have been insufficient given the area’s known flood risks.
In April, Camp Mystic announced it would not reopen for the upcoming summer season despite earlier plans to resume operations. In a statement at the time, camp leadership acknowledged that reopening while investigations and grieving continued would be inappropriate.
The closure marked another major turning point for a camp that once represented tradition and nostalgia for generations of Texas families but is now forever linked to one of the state’s deadliest summer camp disasters in recent memory.
