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Healthcare Security Weekly

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Healthcare Security Weekly

Issue 47, December 31, 2007

• Restraint concerns play a role in leadership shake-up

  State officials in North Carolina have shaken up the leadership at Broughton Hospital in Morganton...

• Vermont hospital increases security

  Think of Vermont and images of white-steepled churches, colorful foliage, and rolling green hills...

• Yorkshire Ripper stabbed by fellow patient

  Britain's serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, in custody at Broadmoor Hospital in England, was attacked...

• Tip of the week: Following a crisis, take time to review what happened

  Events happen in hospitals that can bring a storm of media attention. But one thing hospitals...

Issue 46, December 24, 2007

• Hospital workers get education in gangs 101

  If your hospital is in a location where gang violence is a problem, you may want to take a lesson...

• Addicts steal hospital hand sanitizers

  A Canadian hospital has been hit with an unusual round of thefts. Drug addicts are stealing hand...

• Report cites multiple security problems at Oregon hospital

  A state report released earlier this month found that a dozen forensic patients, some with very...

• Tip of the week: Work with ambulance providers

  A problem for hospitals in cities where gang violence is prevalent occurs when ambulances bring...

Issue 45, December 17, 2007

• Hospital psychologist admits to child pornography

  A 60-year-old psychologist who worked at North Dakota State Hospital resigned in early November...

• Recaptured escapee from mental hospital commits suicide

  A mentally ill man accused of killing his parents in 1996 escaped from a New Jersey psychiatric...

• Canadian physician lobbies to arm hospital guards with Tasers

  An emergency department physician in Canada wants security guards at his hospital armed with Tasers...

• Tip of the week: Offer training to recognize suspicious packages

  Your hospital's mail room can be a gateway for suspicious devices, so employees there may benefit...

Issue 44, December 10, 2007

• Police hold man who shot his elderly wife

  Police in Italy are holding a 77-year-old man who allegedly killed his elderly wife, who suffered...

• Patient dies after staff restrains him

  A restraint technique by medical and security staff at a Portland, OR hospital contributed to the...

• Thieves steal copper from hospital restrooms

  Copper thieves struck at one of Houston's top trauma hospitals, reported KPRC Local 2 News.

• Tip of the week: Avoid specific standard numbers in your policies

  If The Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO) ratifies its proposed EC standard revisions as written...

Issue 43, December 3, 2007

• Patient escapes restraints and allegedly attacks workers

  A drunken patient, who escaped his arm restraints in a New York ER, allegedly whipped staff members...

• Man escapes handcuffs and flees hospital

  A New Jersey man, who was handcuffed to his hospital bed, somehow slipped out of those cuffs and...

• Security guard spots missing girl

  An observant hospital security guard has been credited with helping to find a missing 13-year-old...

• Tip of the week: Hold drop-in day

  You've heard of hospital's holding health fairs and flu clinics. Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Great...

Issue 42, November 26, 2007

• Baby abandoned at Georgia hospital

  A baby boy was abandoned November 10 at a DeKalb, GA hospital, reported WSB-TV in Atlanta.

• Thief posed as hospital employee to scam elderly

  Police are looking for a woman who stole from residents of retirement facilities in Glendale and...

• Baby delivered by dad outside hospital

  A baby was delivered by his own father outside the doors of Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet, IL...

• Tip of the week: Closer link possible for safety and security standards

  If The Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO) ratifies its proposed EC standard revisions as written...

Issue 41, November 19, 2007

• Police arrest man with gun in hospital ED

  Police in Lebanon, PA arrested a man who pointed a gun at hospital emergency department (ED) staff...

• Hospital to install security system after infant kidnapping

  A northern Ontario hospital will install an electronic infant-tagging system by Christmas as one of...

• Veterans Day weekend theft at VA hospital

  Thousands of Indiana veterans are at risk after a theft at an Indianapolis Veterans Administration...

• Tip of the week: Ensure workers' security during emergencies

  One way to help ensure worker turnout during a disaster is to plan for security measures.  

Issue 40, November 12, 2007

• Hospital reviews security after baby abduction

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

• Family seeks $45 million in mother’s death

  The three children of a woman who died earlier this year after collapsing on the floor of the...

• Former employee charged with stealing drugs from hospital

  For a year and a half, a former hospital employee who dressed in scrubs, returned to the facility...

• Tip of the week: Watch for suicide risks

  When Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO) surveyors visited Georgia Regional Hospital at Savannah, a...

Issue 39, November 5, 2007

• Lab technician charged with having sex with corpse

  Police charged a laboratory technician working at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, NJ with sexually...

• Hospital protocol prevents drug arrest

  A security guard at the Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center in Niagara Falls, NY reported a man...

• IAHSS guidelines are up for review

  Security directors now have an opportunity to comment on draft guidelines that deal with the use of...

• Tip of the week: Involve employees in energy saving efforts

  In this current climate of rising oil and natural gas costs and increasing awareness of...

Issue 38, October 29, 2007

• Police seize senator's urine from hospital

  A Columbia, MO police officer seized a senator's urine from a University Hospital room after the...

• Four killed at South Africa hospital

  In South Africa, there were calls to step up security at Seshego Hospital near Polokwane after an...

• Security officers catch robbers

  Several security officers from St. Louis University Hospital witnessed an armed robbery, caught the...

• Tip of the week: Have a process to identify and handle VIPs

  Eventually your facility will receive a visit from a VIP. Of course, a patient does not need to be...

Issue 37, October 22, 2007

• Two die as car crashes into hospital

  A physician and a secretary died after an October 15 accident in which a car crashed into the...

• Security guard injured in hospital fire

  An electrical fire October 14 inside the Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, NJ, left a...

• 'Thirsty' man arrested at Hong Kong hospital

  File this one under the weird and wacky. A drunk and "extremely thirsty" man, who drank two vials...

• Tip of the week: Create a workplace violence safety committee

  After a March inspection at Brockton (MA) Hospital, OSHA recommended the facility take specific...

Issue 36, October 15, 2007

• Workers suspended for accessing Clooney's confidential records

  The presence of a celebrity patient always poses special challenges to hospitals. Such was the case...

• Security chief at Florida hospital fired

  In a leadership shake up at Florida State Hospital, the facility's administrator fired the security...

• Police officer charged with misuse of database

  A Madison, CT police officer was arrested October 9 and charged with using state law enforcement...

• Tip of the week: Remind everyone of holiday decoration policies

  Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, and other holidays inspire staff...

Issue 35, October 8, 2007

• Murder-suicide at Mississippi hospital

  A 48-year-old woman shot and killed her 71-year-old mother, who was a patient at Baptist Medical...

• Two police officers, security guard arrested on cocaine charges

  Two police officers from Zanesville, Ohio and a hospital security guard were arrested October 1 and...

• Hospital security officers stop bank burglar

  Hospital security officers are to thank for the arrest of a suspect for attempted bank robbery in...

• Tip of the week: Be sure to have a forensic patient policy

  Although having a policy on how your hospital will handle forensic patients is a human resources...

Issue 34, October 1, 2007

• Accused assailant recaptured after trip to hospital

  Boston police on September 26 recaptured an accused rapist who escaped from custody after police...

• Inquest underway into nurse's death in Canadian hospital

  A coroner's inquest is taking place in Windsor, Ontario into the death of a nurse who was stabbed...

• Suicidal gunman causes scare at university

  Students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison returned to classes September 26 as police...

• Tip of the week: Document ways you address security incidents

  During an April survey by The Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO) at Valley Hospital Medical Center...

Issue 33, September 24, 2007

• Trial underway for man accused of killing security guard

  A trial is now underway in Montgomery County, VA in the capital murder charges against William...

• Physicians, clerk, and security guard step in to save dog

  Staff at the Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, MA lived up to the facility's name...

• Hospital guard fired after handcuffing elderly cancer patient

  A Brampton, Ontario hospital fired one security guard and suspended another after an internal...

• Tip of the week: Code alerts staff to potential violence

  Boston Medical Center recently introduced Code Green, which the facility uses in response to actual...

Issue 32, September 17, 2007

• GAO report gives Homeland Security failing grades

  Six years after 9/11, a government agency gave failing marks to the Department of Homeland...

• Retired police officer kills himself at Philadelphia hospital

  A 63-year-old retired police officer walked into the emergency room (ER) at Albert Einstein Medical...

• Retired police officer kills himself at Philadelphia hospital

  A 63-year-old retired police officer walked into the emergency room (ER) at Albert Einstein Medical...

• Hospital security finds child left in car

  Police arrested a 28-year-old Gary, Indiana man on September 8 after he allegedly left a...

• Tip of the week: Know whistleblower rules

  In creating workplace violence policies, hospitals might brush up on the whistleblower rules that...

Issue 31, September 10, 2007

• Stolen hospital computer returned

  A computer stolen from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore that contained the records of 5,783...

• Security guards protest safety conditions at hospital

  Security officers at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle took to the streets August 31, passing...

• Employees sue hospital over tuberculosis

  Three security guards are among seven employees at Pinecrest Hospital in Beckley, W.V. who filed a...

• Tip of the week: Surveyors expect hospitals to identify sensitive security areas

  Don’t make the mistakes other hospitals make by not expecting Joint Commission (formerly...

Issue 30, September 3, 2007

• OSHA urges hospital to take steps against violence

  The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sent a letter to Brockton (MA...

• Woman faces attempted kidnapping charge

  A 32-year-old Missouri woman, who was arrested in mid-August and charged with attempted kidnapping...

• Ex-security guard files discrimination lawsuit

  A 34-year-old former security guard is accusing a Nebraska hospital of racial discrimination in a...

• Tip of the week: Make your employees part of the solution

  Your security program must include a plan for teaching new employees their responsibilities...

Issue 29, August 27, 2007

• Ex-hospital worker to serve prison time for identify theft

  A former hospital employee was sentenced to more than two years in prison and ordered to pay more...

• Security guard files suit claiming discrimination

  A security guard at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, NJ  filed suit in...

• Woman pleads guilty to kidnapping baby

  The 21-year-old woman accused of abducting a newborn from the maternity ward of a Lubbock, TX...

• Tip of the week: Be prepared for power disruptions

  In September, 2006, The Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert that outlined preventive...

Issue 28, August 20, 2007

• Stun gun video makes national news

  A confrontation between a hospital secuirty guard who fired a stun gun and a defiant father...

• Woman impersonating nurse hired by hospital

  An Oklahoma woman faces charges of false impersonation and practicing nursing without a license...

• Missouri hospital worker attacked

  A Fulton State Hosptial employee suffered serious wounds after a patient attacked him in early...

• Tip of the week: Prepare now for emergency plan changes

  Hospitals should be aware of the new emergency management rules from The Joint Commission that will...

Issue 27, August 13, 2007

• Newborn named after security guard

  A newborn baby found abandoned in a hospital in Scotland has been named after the security guard...

• Shots fired in hospital ER

  An agitated patient allegedly pulled out a gun and shot at a hospital monitor before security staff...

• Mentally-ill man masquerades as doctor

  The New South Wales government said it has increased security at a hospital where a mentally-ill...

• Tip of the week: Reassess emergency plans after incidents

  San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) learned firsthand how its disaster plan would stack up, after...

Issue 26, August 6, 2007

• Intruder attacks three patients at Cleveland hospital

  Police on August 1 arrested a 31-year-old man accused of assaulting three female patients at...

• Psych patient charged in death of roommate

  Police charged a 34-year-old patient, who was about to be discharged, with second-degree murder in...

• Security guard attacked with aerosol deodorant

  A 24-year-old woman was taken into police custody and charged with attacking a hospital security...

• Tip of the week: Avoid OSHA citations

  Hospitals trip up on many OSHA standards because they inadequately train employees on safe work...

Issue 25, July 30, 2007

• Hospital security guard subdues man with shotgun

  A security guard at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn in Scottsdale, AZ subdued a 54-year-old man armed...

• Woman arrested for trying to abduct baby from hospital

  A woman accused of trying to abduct a baby boy from the Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in...

• Medical center tightens security

  The Sanford Medical Center in Sioux Falls, SD, has tightened security after a man pretending to be...

• Tip of the week: Fellow managers act as surveyors

  Are you trying to take stock of how well your security department measures up to Joint Commission...

Issue 24, July 23, 2007

• Man pretending to be priest steals from patient

  Hospitals and law enforcement agencies in East Texas are on alert for a man who pretended to be a...

• Thief steals cameras with baby’s first moments

  A woman, who snuck into a room in the birthing center at the Lourdes Hospital in Paducah, KY, stole...

• Father visits newborn in hospital, gets nabbed by bounty hunter

  It should have been a happy day for 22-year-old Philip Tukes when he went to the Somerset Medical...

• Tip of the week: New homeland security reg could present challenge to hospitals

  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published a regulation that the agency hopes...

Issue 23, July 16, 2007

• Hospital sues former employee over information breach

  An Ohio hospital is suing a former employee, alleging that she took confidential information about...

• Inmate charged in security guard's murder sentenced in robberies

  The man accused of killing a hospital security guard and a deputy sheriff in Virginia last August...

• Bomb squad examines two packages at hospital

  The Louisville Metro Police bomb squad investigated two suspicious packages found July 2 at Kosair...

• Tip of the week: The need for a risk assessment

  Conduct a risk assessment to identify potential problem areas associated with the management of...

Issue 22, July 9, 2007

• Terror attacks close to home for Scottish hospital

  A bomb disposal unit on July 1 carried out a controlled explosion at the Royal Alexandra Hospital...

• Utah hospital taking new security measures

  Hospital administrators at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City are putting new...

• Alabama veterans' hospital faulted in data security breach

  An internal report said an Alabama Veterans Administration (VA) hospital that lost sensitive...

• Tip of the week: Deal with comments and complaints

  Monitor and analyze the types of security complaints and comments that are passed on through...

Issue 21, July 2, 2007

• Corrections officers killed at Utah hospital

  An inmate undergoing an MRI at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City shot and...

• Man sentenced to home detention in hospital attack

  A 42-year-old father, found guilty by a jury of attacking hospital workers after learning his...

• Area of hospital evacuated when disgruntled patient walks in with gun

  An area of HealthSouth Sunrise Rehabilitation Hospital in Sunrise, FL was evacuated June 26 after a...

• Tip of the week: Security a focus area in revised standard

  Hospital security and safety directors should start prepping now for the new Joint Commission...

Issue 20, June 18, 2007

• Former hospital therapist pleads guilty to molesting children

  A former respiratory therapist at the Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego pleaded guilty June 12...

• Guard arrested after shooting at colleague outside hospital

  No one was injured after a security guard at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C...

• Massachusetts considers bill to address hospital violence

  Massachusetts lawmakers this week are scheduled to hear testimony on a bill that would require all...

• Hospital technician charged with stealing ID from ER patient

  Police on June 19 arrested a technician at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine (TX) and...

• Tapes reveal details of hospital death

  The death of a woman at King-Harbor Hospital in Los Angeles was back in the news last week, after...

• Employee sues medical center for lack of security

  An employee and her husband have filed a lawsuit against the Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC...

• Tip of the week: Identify the issue in question

  When it comes to risk assessments, some risks, such as problems that will result from a new...

• Tip of the week: Consider security in flu planning

  When it comes to your hospital's emergency planning efforts for influenza pandemics and associated...

Issue 19, June 11, 2007

• Terrorism can put hospitals and law enforcement to the test

  The day-to-day jobs of law enforcement personnel and healthcare workers naturally intersect with...

• Caretaker charged with rape of boy, 13, at hospital

  Police charged a man hired to take care of a developmentally disabled 13-year-old boy with...

• Murder-suicide at Florida hospital

  An elderly man killed his wife June 4 while visiting her at the Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston...

• Tip of the week: Training contracted security officers

  If your hospital outsources its security force, you might face difficulties developing a training...

Issue 18, June 4, 2007

• Former security guard sentenced in medical thefts

  A former security guard at the Community Medical Center in Scranton, PA was sentenced to three...

• Guard denied injury benefits after attack by inmate

  Officials have denied a Cook County Correctional Officer's request for duty-related injury benefits...

• Disorderly person kicks guard

  A 22-year-old security guard at York Hospital in York, PA, was kicked in the groin May 28 as he...

• Tip of the week: Coordinate emergency planning with other entities

  The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is a federal initiative joining together hospitals...

Issue 17, May 21, 2007

• Full-time security watch at Arkansas hospital

  Harris Hospital in Newport, AR tightened security May 11 after staff received an alleged threat.

• Hospital dedicates memorial to slain security guard

  Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg, VA dedicated a memorial May 12 to Derrick McFarland...

• Death at Los Angeles hospital under investigation

  County and state authorities are investigating the May 8 death of a 43-year-old woman at Martin...

• Tip of the week: Get wheeled computers out of the way in emergencies

  Battery-powered, portable computers-some hospitals are now in the habit of calling them...

Issue 16, May 7, 2007

• Virginia Tech shooting tested hospital's disaster plan

  Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg, VA, was one of four facilities that treated people...

• Former pharmacist charged in hospital drug theft

  A former hospital pharmacist at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, PA, has been charged with the...

• Hospital increased security during governor's stay

  Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ, increased security during the time it treated Governor...

• Thief steals from hospital's poor box

  A 46-year-old Hoboken, NJ man was accused of stealing from a poor box in the chapel at the Hoboken...

• Man drives car into Ottawa children's hospital entrance

  Police arrested a 29-year-old man after he allegedly drove his car into the doors of the Children's...

• Tip of the week: Securing patient valuables

  The loss or theft of patient valuables can have a decidedly negative effect on the credibility of...

• Tip of the week: Prepare workers for a disaster

  Although safety committee members would never want to test their storm strategy that way, the staff...

• Bank robber flees through nearby hospital

  After robbing a Wichita, KS bank May 2, the suspect made his getaway through the nearby Wesley...

Issue 15, April 23, 2007

• Gunmen attack hospital in Mexico

  A busy public hospital in Tijuana, Mexico that serves the city's poorest residents was the scene of...

• Threats of violence at VA hospital a hoax

  Security was tightened at the San Diego Veterans Affairs Medical Center on April 24 after several...

• Father drops newborn after being shot by stun gun

  A Houston security officer used a stun gun on a man who was carrying his newborn daughter and tried...

• Georgia hospital beefs up ER security

  The Houston Medical Center in Warner Robins, GA, is increasing security by hiring an armed city...

• Man who bought gun arrested at hospital

  Police arrested a Winfield man who brought a gun onto the grounds of the Charleston Area Medical...

• Preacher accused of stabbing estranged wife inside doctor's office

  Minister Thomas Holloway, pastor of the Christ Temple Pentecostal Church in Forrest City, AR, was...

• Tip of the week: Provide patient/parent education in maternity units

  When it comes to security on maternity and newborn units, patient/parent education is key. Instruct...

• Tip of the week: Identify the reasons for linen supply problems

  If your hospital is trying to determine what's behind its dwindling linen supply, don't assume that...

• Tip of the week: Identify the reasons for linen supply problems

  If your hospital is trying to determine what's behind its dwindling linen supply, don't assume that...

Issue 14, April 12, 2007

• Artwork stolen from California hospital

  A woman, whose actions were caught on a security camera, stole two paintings worth $1,600 from a...

• China hospital poisoning was intentional

  Someone intentionally contaminated food at a Chinese hospital with rat poison, reported the...

• Tuberculosis patient held in a Phoenix hospital's jail ward

  A Russian born man, with a highly contagious form of tuberculosis (TB), has been confined in a...

• Tip of the week: Be prepared for surveyor review of emergency plans

  On the final day of a Joint Commission survey in February at Doctors Hospital, a 281-bed acute-care...

Issue 13, April 9, 2007

• Reporter arrested at hospital on kidnapping charges

  A Texas television reporter, who dressed in hospital scrubs and was apparently trying to produce a...

• Fired worker takes hostages at nursing home

  A 27-year-old nursing home employee, who was fired from his job, returned to the facility in...

• Inmate overpowers guard, escapes from hospital

  An inmate escaped from a Youngstown, OH hospital April 2 after he overpowered a prison guard and...

• Tip of the week: Be sure to keep wireless device policies up to date

  If the last time your hospital revisited its cell phone policy was back during the Clinton...

Issue 12, April 2, 2007

• Candid camera raises privacy issues for hospitals

  As well as helping to improve hospital security, new technology has created concerns as well.

• California hospital stops birth announcements

  Concerned about the safety of babies and their mothers, a Chico, CA hospital joined other...

• Louisiana hospital worker arrested for ID theft

  St. Tammany Parish investigators have broken up an identity theft ring involving a Louisiana...

• Tip of the week: Properly dispose of pharmaceuticals

  A Wisconsin hospital has stepped up to the challenge of properly disposing of pharmaceuticals to...

Issue 11, March 19, 2007

• Infant abduction prompts hospitals to re-evaluate security measures

  Hospitals across the country are re-examining their security measures and emergency procedures...

• Prosecutor says woman who kidnapped baby scouted hospital security

  The woman accused of taking a days-old infant from a Lubbock, TX hospital maternity unit had...

• Hospital investigates discrimination charge

  A gay couple complained of discrimination to officials at San Joaquin Community Hospital in...

• Former security officer injured in Iraq has job waiting for him

  A former part-time security officer at Lake Forest Hospital in Lake Forest, IL has a full-time job...

• Hospital employee has teeth knocked out

  An employee at the state mental hospital in Chattahoochee, FL was left with three teeth knocked out...

• Grieving family members accused of hospital attack

  A father and two teenage sons face criminal charges stemming from what police said was a violent...

• Tip of the week: Don't forget satellite facilities in survey prep efforts

  The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center underwent a Joint Commission survey in October 2006...

• Tip of the week: Make your buildings more accessible to public transportation

  There are a number of ways managers can make their hospital more ecofriendly. One way is to...

Issue 10, March 12, 2007

• Security lapses reported involving hospital data

  Security breaches involving information about hospital patients continue to make the news.

• Security heightened after maternity ward intruder

  The Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC, has stepped up security and warned other local...

• Hospital security officer cut in attack

  A security officer in Tulsa, OK, was cut March 2 by a man he stopped to question about recent car...

• Tip of the week: Get familiar with HICS

  In the world of emergency preparedness, the latest acronym is HICS IV, which stands for Hospital...

Issue 9, March 5, 2007

• Security guards thwart bank robbers' escape

  A pair of security guards at the Willis-Knighton Hospital in Shreveport, LA prevented the escape of...

• Hospital security guard injured in shootout

  A security guard at the Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, MO, was shot in the leg after he and...

• Security guard stabbed

  A security guard at a mental health crisis center in Vallejo, CA was stabbed February 27.

Issue 8, February 26, 2007

• Security guard tackles teen shooter

  A security guard at MedCentral/Mansfield Hospital in Mansfield, OH, tackled a shooting suspect and...

• A new way of getting around

  At one Bismarck, ND hospital, security guards are testing out a new mode of transportation. They...

• Security guard takes in overtime

  When it comes to city overtime, year to year no one beats a security sergeant at San Francisco...

Issue 7, February 19, 2007

• Security guards slashed by patient

  Two security guards at a hospital in Great Britain were slashed by a patient who attacked them with...

• Two nurses assaulted in emergency room

  An assault on two nurses at the Saint John Regional Hospital in New Brunswick, Canada in early...

• Security breaches leave patient info exposed

  Security problems in which hospitals have lost sensitive computerized data on tens of thousands of...

Issue 6, February 12, 2007

• Thieves steal catalytic converters from cars in hospital lot

  In Bangor, Maine earlier this month, thieves brazenly removed catalytic converters in a busy...

• British hospital fines unruly patients, visitors

  Here's a new approach to the problem of disruptive patients and visitors in hospital emergency...

• Security breach at Alabama VA hospital

  U.S. Representative Artur Davis (D-AL) has requested a full briefing on a missing external hard...

Issue 5, February 5, 2007

• Phony pipe bomb at Boston hospital

  A disgruntled former hospital employee allegedly planted a sophisticated but phony pipe bomb in an...

• Hospital laptop with patient information stolen

  A laptop computer containing personal information for more than 1,000 patients was reported missing...

• Investigation leads to resignation and terminations

  An investigation of University of North Carolina (UNC) Hospitals in Chapel Hill by the state...

Issue 4, January 29, 2007

• Nurse disposes of own baby in hospital waste container

  A nurse who worked in the labor and delivery unit at Chester County Hospital in Pennsylvania was...

• Security concerns stop mail delivery

  Walter Reed Army Medical Center has had to stop accepting mail addressed to unnamed patients, in...

• Family alleges race a factor in hospital treatment

  Family members of a man who died at Middletown Regional Hospital in Ohio after being struck by a...

Issue 3, January 22, 2007

• CMS issues guidance about remote access to health records

  Security directors may want to get familiar with a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS...

• Phony physician didn't access patient information

  A man impersonating a physician gained access to a computer at St. Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac...

• Baby taken from San Jose hospital is found

  Officials say a San Jose mother allegedly tampered with the hospital's bracelet monitoring system...

Issue 2, January 15, 2007

• Man impersonating doctor hits security guard with car

  Police in Hazel Crest, IL, are looking for a 22-year-old Homewood man they believe posed as a...

• Drug suspect causes hospital lockdown

  A drug suspect caused the lockdown of the Heartland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph, MO...

• Hospital tightens security after gang-related shooting

  Security was tightened at the Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial in Corpus Christi, TX, after two...

Issue 1, January 8, 2007

• Hospital plans training in response to violence

  St. John's hospital in Springfield, IL will provide its employees with training on how to spot...

• Thief hits hospital crash carts

  A man stole 30 vials of eight different drugs from "crash carts" at Toronto General Hospital on...

• Shooting victim brought to hospital in bloodstained pickup

  Knoxville police are investigating the shooting of a man January 2 who was brought to Baptist...