Hundreds of patients who had surgery at a Denver hospital have been tested for Hepatitis C following the arrest of a surgery technician accused of swapping out her dirty syringes for ones filled with painkiller meant for patients.

Twenty six-year-old Kristen Diane Parker appeared in U.S. District Court in Denver on Thursday where a judge ordered Parker detained without bond, ruling that she is a danger to the community.

Parker faces charges of tampering with a consumer product, creating a counterfeit controlled substance, and obtaining a controlled substance by deception or subterfuge.

According to the arrest affidavit, Parker was told she tested positive for Hepatitis C last October. Her lawyer denies that, saying Kristen wasn't told clearly that she had Hep C. He says she was only encouraged to get further treatment but never given the formal diagnosis.

"For someone who is no sophisticated, has no money and had no symptoms, it was just overlooked. Certainly, Rose (Medical Center) did nothing to reinforce the need to get a further check-up," says Defense Attorney Gregory Graf.

Parker worked at Rose Medical Center in Denver and at Colorado Springs Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center between October and June 29. Up to 6,000 people may have been exposed to the blood-borne liver disease. State health officials say 10 Hepatitis C cases in former Rose patients may be linked to Parker.

11 News is learning more about the timeline of the events leading up to Parker being caught. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Parker admitted to them she had swapped syringes. This was on June 22 but Parker still went to work at the Audobon Surgery Center the next day. Dr. Ned Cologne with the health department says he asked Parker to call in sick at the Audobon the next day as they gathered more evidence, but she refused and went to work the next day- continuing to work until June 23 before the surgery center was ever notified of her syringe swapping.

The health department says they asked her to call in sick, instead of notifying Audobon right away, because they didn't have enough proof to charge her. Notifying her employer right away would have violated her civil rights. However, after they learned she went to work instead of calling in sick, and that nine Rose Medical Center patients had tested positive for Hep C, they decided they had enough to go public.

Thursday, prosecutors told the court an indictment is likely by July 23. Parker is scheduled to make her next court appearance on August 6.