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Healthcare Security Weekly

Each week, get tips and advice delivered right to your computer with our e-mail newsletter created specifically for safety officers and other healthcare professionals who are concerned with security.

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Healthcare Security Weekly

Issue 7, March 1, 2005

• IAHSS meeting set for June 27

  The International Association of Healthcare Security and Safety and its North Florida Chapter will...

Issue 6, February 14, 2005

• Test your infant security system weekly

  If you use an infant tagging security system at your hospital, make sure you conduct random tests...

• Hospital security captures two men on the run from police

  Modesto, CA, police and Memorial Medical Center hospital security officers captured and arrested...

• New mom breaches infant security system

  A new mother beat a Salt Lake City hospital’s high-tech security system last week when she...

Issue 5, February 7, 2005

• Use security officers to protect your parking garage area

  A parking facility patroled by security officers helps ensure that only legitimate patients and...

• Three suspects chased through hospital

  Three men fleeing police were arrested last week at Deaconess Billings (MT) Clinic after crashing a...

• Parking lot thief on the prowl at Ohio hospital

  A thief slashed a patient’s hand last week while walking to his car at St. Vincent Mercy...

Issue 50, December 19, 2005

• Police catch prisoner who escaped from hospital

  Jackson (MS) police caught up to Dexter Patrick a day after he escaped custody while undergoing...

• Mentally ill patient severely beats ED visitor in waiting room

  A mentally ill patient who Asheville (NC) police dropped off in the emergency department (ED...

• Georgia hospitals to be wired for disasters

  The Georgia Hospital Association recently signed a $3.4 million deal with a software company to...

Issue 49, December 12, 2005

• Police officer accused of assaulting prisoner at hospital

  Authorities charged a Michigan county sheriff deputy with second-degree criminal sexual conduct for...

• Security involved in sting to catch harassing doctor

  Hospital security worked with St. Louis police to identify a man who was leaving anonymous...

• Coffee shop causing traffic at hospital

  Hospital security is linking a coffee shop in the hospital with recent traffic problems, reports...

Issue 48, December 5, 2005

• JCAHO's 2007 National Patient Safety Goals may affect security

  Discouraging disruptive behavior and dealing with patient suicide prevention are two topics that...

• Police credit fast-acting security with capturing escapee

  Police in Ardmore, OK, are crediting the hospital security staff at a Dallas, TX, hospital with...

• Stab vest saves officer in England

  A hospital security officer in England is crediting a specially designed vest with saving his life...

Issue 47, November 28, 2005

• MS hospital to lock new moms in at night

  The North Mississippi Medical Center's Women's Hospital in Tupelo is increasing security on its...

• Woman arrested for trying to steal infant

  Police in Manning, SC, arrested Carolyn Mouzan last week after she attempted to steal a newborn...

• Inmate escapes from SC hospital

  An inmate escaped from Providence Hospital in Columbia, SC, reports The State.

Issue 46, November 21, 2005

• MA man heads to jail for assaulting nurses

  A Massachusetts man pled guilty to attacking two emergency room (ER) nurses at Salem Hospital back...

• CA hospitals take part in statewide disaster drills

  Hospitals all over California took part in the seventh annual Statewide Medical and Health Disaster...

• Security catches man who held employee hostage

  A patient at Holland (MI) Hospital held a hospital employee hostage briefly last week, and nearly...

Issue 45, November 14, 2005

• Security stops attack on hospital employee

  A fast-acting security guard at the Napa (CA) State Hospital helped stop a patient from assaulting...

• IA hospital has hard time enforcing smoking ban

  The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is having a tough time forcing visitors and employees...

• OH hospital briefly posts patient info online

  During the testing of a new computer program at the Ohio State Universiy Medical Center someone...

Issue 44, November 7, 2005

• Health commissioner tells CT hospital to tighten security

  The Connecticut Children's Medical Center had until November 15 to submit a plan to the state...

• Security officer and doctors capture gun wielding man

  A pair of doctors and a security officer at Spokane (WA) Veterans Administration Hospital helped...

• MI man escapes custody in hospital

  A man in police custody escaped from St. John Hospital in Madison Heights, MI, while changing...

Issue 43, October 31, 2005

• WA hospital X-rays Halloween candy

  Samaritan Healthcare in Moses Lake, WA, is offering parents and children the opportunity to see the...

• NY hospital helps capture murder suspect

  A member of the Cabrini Medical Center security department in Manhattan, NY, helped police capture...

• Computer drive with patient info missing from HI hospital

  Kauai, HI, police are searching for a missing computer hard drive that disappeared from Wilcox...

Issue 42, October 24, 2005

• Man steals ambulance from RI hospital

  Police in Newport, RI, are using hospital security tapes to determine how someone stole an...

• WA security guards catch teen attacker

  Two security guards from Western State Hospital in Lakewood, WA, helped capture a man who attacked...

• Hospital employee shot by estranged husband

  Hickory, NC, police say Howard McGrady entered Frye Regional Medical Center and shot his estranged...

Issue 41, October 10, 2005

• MD hospital increases security for stabbing victim

  Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, MD, increased security last week for a stabbing...

• Report: PA hospital staff at fault for patient's death

  The Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH) issued a report last week that points to the incorrect...

• SC police investigate doctor impersonator

  Police in Seneca, SC, arrested A.J. Bixby for impersonating a doctor at Oconee Memorial Hospital...

Issue 40, October 3, 2005

• Security guard admits to stealing from sick children

  A security officer from Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary, Canada, admitted to stealing video...

• Guards undergo training to deal with mentally ill

  Two San Mateo (CA) Medical Center security officers are taking part in a training seminar to learn...

• Security position cut from TX hospital

  Hopkins County Memorial Hospital in Sulphur Springs, TX, cut the day shift security position from...

Issue 39, September 26, 2005

• NJ hospital to increase security after infant abductions

  Two infant abductions at Newark (NJ) University Hospital has resulted in emergency approval of more...

• Man charged with assaulting 79-year-old patient

  Nurses and security officers at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence, RI, had to...

• Police shoot suspect fleeing from hospital

  An Oklahoma City police officer shot and killed a robbery suspect as he fled from Norman Regional...

Issue 38, September 19, 2005

• Investigators search for answers in murder of nurse

  Authorities in Corpus Christi, TX, now believe that someone abducted the Christus Spohn Hospital...

• Hospital guard assaulted, assailants get away

  Two men attacked a security officer at Athens-Limestone (AL) Hospital last week after he approached...

• Missing baby returned to hospital

  A Madison, WI, woman took her 3-month-old baby off of a feeding tube and out of the pediatric...

Issue 37, September 12, 2005

• CA grand jury points out hospital's security issues

  Officials from Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Victorville, CA, are working hard to fix...

• Hospitals attempting to prevent ID theft

  In response to patients' concerns over identification (ID) theft and HIPAA violations, hospitals in...

• FL hospital's head of security found to have criminal record

  The new head of security for Ocoee's (FL) Health Central Hospital is a twice-convicted felon...

Issue 36, September 5, 2005

• New Orleans hospital under siege

  Looters attempted to gain access to Children's Hospital in New Orleans in the aftermath of...

• Police arrest suspect in doctor's office theft

  Freemont (CA) police arrested a man suspected of breaking into a doctor's office at Washington...

• Car thief caught in TX hospital

  Police officers in Harlingen, TX, caught three men breaking into cars at the Mission Regional...

Issue 35, August 29, 2005

• PA nurse shot outside of hospital, ex-husband arrested

  Police arrested a Berks County (PA) police chief last week in connection with the shooting of his...

• Hospital employees rally for safer parking

  Hundreds of workers from the Stanford (CA) University hospital gathered to raise their concerns...

• MI hospital steps up security for rap star

  Brighton (MI) Hospital officials say they have beefed up securitydramatically since admitting rap...

Issue 34, August 22, 2005

• Man commits murder-suicide in Atlanta hospital

  A 71-year-old man walked into his wife's room at St. Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta, shot her, and...

• University hospital adds bike patrol

  In a response to busy downtown traffic, 16 security officers from Robert Wood Johnson University...

• Police catch convict who escaped AZ hospital

  Police captured murder suspect James Edward Bates 24 hours after he escaped from his high-security...

Issue 33, August 15, 2005

• WA hospital boosts security after attacks

  Six violent attacks in the past year at St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, WA, have forced the hospital...

• Officer says age and sex discrimination hurt promotion

  A security officer at Gateway Medical in Granite City, IL, filed a lawsuit against the hospital...

• Woman carjacked at FL hospital

  A man carjacked a female hospital worker at gunpoint when she arrived for her shift at Floyd...

Issue 32, August 8, 2005

• The JCAHO warns of more imposters

  A Seattle hospital notified the JCAHO that two imposters posing as surveyors attempted to gain...

• Hospital worker charged with selling stolen medical equipment

  Authorities in Indiana say a nurse's aide from Evansville's St. Mary's Medical Center stole more...

• Bomb drill a success at WV hospital

  St. Joseph's Hospital in Parkersburg, WV, took part in a successful bomb drill with several other...

Issue 31, August 1, 2005

• CA politician seeks to end shackling of inmates in labor

  California assemblyman Sally Lieber has proposed a bill that would make it illegal to shackle...

• PA hospital questioned in OxyContin theft

  The Pennsylvania Health Department is questioning Grand View Hospital in Sellersville about how it...

• Medical errors bill clears Congress

  A proposed bill created to increase reporting of medical errors received approval from Congress and...

Issue 30, July 25, 2005

• Parents arrested for trying to abduct infant

  Police arrested the parents of a newborn baby for attempting to abduct their own infant from a...

• SC woman says she was assaulted in hospital bathroom

  A South Carolina woman says a man bound, gagged, and sexually assaulted her in a bathroom of the...

• Ohio security guards find gun and drugs in car

  Police arrested a man in Ohio after security guards from Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton reported...

Issue 29, July 18, 2005

• IN hospital works on after helicopter crash

  Porter Valparaiso (IN) Hospital Campus maintained normal working operations after a University of...

• Nashville doctor stripped of license

  The Tennessee Board of Health revoked the medical license of a Nashville doctor after a series of...

• PA hospital security cameras help catch murder suspect

  Pennsylvania Hospital security cameras assisted police in tracking down the man suspected of...

Issue 28, July 11, 2005

• OHA warns hospitals of two scams

  The Ohio Hospital Association (OHA) warned hospitals of two potential scams that hit one facility...

• CA man kills wife then shoots himself at hospital

  An 81-year-man shot his wife in the head and then killed himself at Walnut Creek (CA) Hospital...

• Grant helps NC hospital add infant security

  Part of a $141,249 grant will fund added infant security at Heritage Hospital in Tarboro, NC...

Issue 27, July 4, 2005

• Man arrested for rape in NY hospital

  Police arrested and charged a man for raping a teenage girl who was a patient at Crouse Hospital in...

• Inmate escapes from GA hospital

  A prison inmate that East Central Regional Hospital in Augusta, GA, was treating escaped from the...

• NC hospital unveils emergency department management system

  NorthEast Medical Center in Concord, NC, unveiled its emergency department (ED) management system...

Issue 26, June 27, 2005

• PA doctor accused of identity theft

  A former resident physician in Pennsylvania allegedly stole personal information from his...

• Schizophrenic man pleads no contest in ER 'gun' incident

  A West Warwick (RI) man received a three-year suspended sentence with probation for pleading no...

• OK car thief was living at hospital

  Oklahoma City police arrested a man who is a suspect in auto burglaries at three area hospitals...

Issue 25, June 20, 2005

• Possible presidential candidates support new medical records bill

  Senators, and potential presidential candidates for the 2008 election, Hillary Rodham Clinton and...

• Prosecutor warns of OR medical records security breach

  An Oregon deputy district attorney advised hundreds of medical record theft victims from Columbia...

• Duke (NC) officials analyzing sterilization mix-up

  Officials from the Duke University Health System (DUHS) say they are still determining whether...

Issue 24, June 13, 2005

• HHS introduces parameters for electronic health records plan

  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last week proposed standards that will...

• Justice Department: Potential prosecutions under medical privacy law limited

  The U.S. Justice Department last week decided that most healthcare workers cannot be prosecuted for...

• Technology helps FL hospital protect against medical errors

  New technology at a Florida hospital is ensuring that patients always receive the correct...

Issue 23, June 6, 2005

• RI woman found guilty of identity fraud

  A district court jury found a Rhode Island woman guilty on six counts of identity fraud after it...

• PA hospital under attack for patient safety and security violations

  A Pennsylvania woman is suing her former employer for wrongful termination, claiming she was fired...

• NJ man charged in hospital room assault on girlfriend

  A New Jersey man is charged with assault after police say he barged into a hospital room and hit...

Issue 22, May 30, 2005

• Man nabbed for using fake name at Wisconsin hospital

  A Wisconsin man is accused of giving false information to a hospital after it was learned he used a...

• Computers storing personal information stolen from Kansas hospital

  Officials at the University of Kansas Hospital notified 8,000 patients about the theft of a...

• Connecticut hospital a target of identity theft

  A Connecticut hospital is under fire after one of its employees stole the identity of three...

Issue 21, May 23, 2005

• Former healthcare worker accused of stealing patient information

  A former employee of the San Jose Medical Group is accused of stealing computers and a disk...

• Woman mistakenly receives faxes of medical records

  Several Nebraska facilities mistakenly faxed hundreds of medical records to the wrong business...

• NYC hospital fails to inform some patients at risk for cancer

  A New York City hospital is blaming a clerical worker for not notifying hundreds of women when...

Issue 20, May 16, 2005

• Eleven charged in Chicago identity theft ring

  An indictment in Chicago last week accuses 11 workers from two Chicago physicians' groups of taking...

• SC Senate OK's physician misconduct bill

  The South Carolina Senate last week approved a bill that would require the state Board of Medical...

• Study: Hospitals planning technology upgrade to protect patient records

  More than 60% of small- to medium-sized hospitals have agreed to bolster their Internet technology...

Issue 19, May 9, 2005

• Computer containing health records stolen from car's backseat

  Someone stole a computer containing the confidential health records of more than 16,000 Colorado...

• Police investigate hospital shooting

  Police in Pennsylvania are investigating a shooting outside a hospital emergency room last weekend...

• PA woman arrested for hospital theft

  A Pennsylvania woman accused of stealing a wallet and credit cards from a hospital patient two...

Issue 18, May 2, 2005

• Online services may not protect patient information

  Medical records experts say that people who use Internet services to store and manage their health...

• Computers containing patient information stolen from Houston hospital

  Officials at a Houston hospital say stolen computers may contain medical records and Social...

• HIPAA security deadline passes

  The deadline for facilities to complete the most recent security requirement of the U.S. Health...

Issue 17, April 25, 2005

• Police kill man connected to hospital murder

  Authorities are investigating why a man shot and killed his hospitalized 78-year-old wife last...

• Police kill man connected to hospital murder

  Authorities are investigating why a man shot and killed his hospitalized 78-year-old wife last...

• Medical records, samples stolen from Chicago clinic

  Medical records, as well as blood and stool samples, have been stolen from a Chicago clinic...

• Medical records, samples stolen from Chicago clinic

  Medical records, as well as blood and stool samples, have been stolen from a Chicago clinic...

• Oxygen leak forces hospital evacuation

  An oxygen leak at the base hospital at Offutt Air Force Base (NE) last Thursday prompted officials...

• Oxygen leak forces hospital evacuation

  An oxygen leak at the base hospital at Offutt Air Force Base (NE) last Thursday prompted officials...

Issue 16, April 18, 2005

• HIPAA deadline right around the corner

  Approximately 26% of hospitals say they are only about 50% compliant with the latest aspect of the...

• JCAHO, state regulators investigating 2003 surgical fire

  The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and state regulators in...

• Man shoots at patient in Indiana hospital

  A man walked into the LaPorte (IN) Hospital last week and allegedly shot at a female patient on the...

Issue 15, April 11, 2005

• Confidential hospital patient records scatter in the wind

  Nearly 3,000 confidential patient hospital statements scattered all over downtown Cleveland (OH...

• Computers containing patient information stolen from medical group

  The San Jose Medical Group is notifying 185,000 current and former patients that their personal...

• Missing patient rescued from garbage truck

  A missing hospital patient was pulled safely out of a garbage truck just moments after a bystander...

Issue 14, April 4, 2005

• Hospital altercation results in police officers ear bitten off

  A police officer filling in as a hospital security officer at Hunstville (AL) Hospital last week...

• Husband shoots wife in head at hospital

  Police identified a man last week who walked into a Houston hospital and allegedly shot his...

• Pay-Per-View: ED security is still a top priority

  The results of HCPro’s recent survey about security efforts in the emergency department (ED...

Issue 13, March 28, 2005

• Man stabs nurse outside employee bathroom

  Police are still searching for a man who stabbed an emergency room nurse at Boston Medical Center...

• Nurse charged with identity theft

  A Randolph County, NC, nurse faced charges last week of 29 counts of financial identity fraud and...

• Pay-Per-View: Place your exit signs according to JCAHO regulations and the LSC

  Although exit sign requirements in the Life Safety Code® (LSC) aren’t complicated, your...

Issue 12, March 21, 2005

• Define security’s role in emergency situations

  There is usually a significant expectation of the role security plays during emergency situations...

• Police respond to violent patient at hospital emergency room

  A South Lake Tahoe (CA) woman’s struggle with Carson-Tahoe Hospital emergency room staff last...

• Hospital security officer sentenced for killing coworker

  A former hospital security officer for St. John Riverview Hospital in Detroit received 25 to 50...

Issue 11, March 14, 2005

• JCAHO warns of more phony surveyors

  The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) warned by e-mail last...

• Patient’s attempted escape prompts security questions

  The Regional Medical Center (TRMC) in Orangeburg County, SC, officials are evaluating security...

• Hospital bracelets new means of identity theft

  Thieves are finding news ways to get private information on hospital patients through...

Issue 10, March 7, 2005

• JCAHO warns of phony surveyors

  The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) warned hosptials by...

• Judges won’t allow inmates at TN hospital

  Two judges in Chattanooga, TN, ordered last week that the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute may...

• State investigating hospital suicide

  The state of Wisconsin is investigating last week's suicide of a mental patient at Waukesha (WI...

Issue 3, January 25, 2005

• Staffing levels important to metal detector operation

  Before you decide to add metal detectors to your facility, determine whether you have enough staff...

• Domestic dispute ends in fatal hospital shooting

  Rush Foundation Hospital officials are evaluating security after a man was shot and killed this...

• Security camera catches obscene caller

  A hospital security camera allegedly caught a Tennessee man making obscene phone calls from a...

Issue 2, January 13, 2005

• Treat missing visitors like missing patients

  If hospital security receives a report of a missing visitor, then respond the same way as if a...

• Girl goes missing from hospital waiting room

  Iowa City police searched last week for a 10-year-old girl who disappeared from a hospital waiting...

• Hospital volunteer swipes gift shop cash

  A Delnor-Community Hospital volunteer was charged last week with stealing thousands of dollars from...

Issue 1, January 13, 2005

• Tips for creating a prisoner policy with law enforcement

  Consider these tips when creating your prisoner patient policy with law enforcement personnel:

• Utah hospital to issue visitor badges

  Intermountain Health Care (IHC) hospitals in Utah will soon issue special access badges to...

• Prisoner escapes hospital custody

  A prisoner visiting University Medical Center in Jackson, MS, last week escaped security custody...