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Phony technician makes costly repair

Healthcare Security Weekly, September 26, 2004

A phony repairman stole expensive parts from three sonogram machines at the University of Michigan Medical Center (UM) last week, the Ann Arbor News reported.

The parts are estimated to cost between $30,000 and $45,000.

The man arrived in the hospital's radiology department in the afternoon and began working on the equipment. While hospital staff confronted the repairman, who wore a uniform, he said he was a service representative on call. An hour later, staff noticed he never signed the maintenance log and could no longer find him in the facility.

Three transducers, a handheld part of the sonogram machine, were missing, Lt. Robert Neumann of the UM Department of Public Safety told the Ann Arbor News.

Neumann said he did not know whether there is a high resale value for transducers on the black market, but thieves have targeted high-tech medical equipment at the hospital in the past.

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