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Hospital reviews security after baby abduction

Healthcare Security Weekly, November 12, 2007

An Ontario hospital is examining its security procedures after a newborn baby was taken from its maternity ward.

The day-old baby girl was abducted from St. Joseph's Health Centre in Sudbury on November 1, triggering a nationwide Amber Alert, reported the Canadian Press. The baby was recovered safely after a seven-hour search in Kirkland Lake about a five-hour drive north of Sudbury. Police had released surveillance video of a woman, dressed in hospital scrubs, carrying a blanket-wrapped bundle. They charged a 29-year-old woman with abducting the infant.

Administrators are currently reviewing their security policies, including some that staff do not always follow, such as wearing photo ID badges, the Canadian Press reported. At a news conference, a hospital official told reporters that the woman changed her appearance three times in the hour-and-a-half she was on the maternity unit, at the end switching into a hospital uniform. The hospital does not screen visitors, have electronic bracelets on babies, or key-card access to the maternity ward, but all that will be under review, the official said.

 

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