Children’s Hospital Changes Security Procedures After Holdup by Gunman

Children’s Hospital and Health Center quickly changed its security procedures Thursday, one day after the dramatic holdup of a hospital cashier and two security guards by a masked gunman that netted the robber $5,000 in cash and $392,000 in checks.

“One of our fears is that people might think that hospitals are ripe for the picking by bandits,” said Mark Morelli, director of media relations. “But the truth is that, at any given time, there is a very little cash here.”

The hospital, which is insured against the loss, declined to specify what security changes had been made.

A gunman, who has not been caught, approached a hospital cashier and two security guards outside the Frost Street hospital Wednesday afternoon and stole the money and a hospital pickup truck. No one was injured and no shots were fired.

The money was being transported to the hospital’s main office from the administrative building 1 mile away.

After the daily transfer, the money was to be put in the hospital safe and later taken by armored truck to the bank.

The administrative offices were separated from the hospital in 1988, and the safe remains in the hospital, said Morelli.

Handling of receipts varies at hospitals.

Laura Avallone of Mercy Hospital and Medical Center said, “All of our offices are here in the hospital so we have someone who does a pickup everyday.”

“Our employees are not involved in taking cash outside the hospital,” said Avallone, adding that the hospital does not plan any security changes.

A spokeswoman for Sharp Memorial Hospital, which is next to Children’s Hospital and shares the same security agency, Duber Industrial Security, declined to elaborate on security arrangements.

Morelli said that Children’s Hospital will probably further change security, but should not overdo it.

“How much security is too much is another issue,” Morelli said. The guards involved in the transfer, for example, were unarmed, Morelli said. “Why aren’t the guards armed? Because it’s not appropriate for the hospital guards to be armed.”

Most of the city’s hospitals do not have armed guards, according to Morelli.

“These transfers are made between buildings in any business, and if there were a great deal of cash, armed guards might be considered,” Morelli said. “I’d just hate for hospitals to become targets of thieves who think that there’s $300,000 lying around, because there isn’t.”

The money being transferred included payments from individuals and insurance companies and cash from the hospital’s cafeteria and gift shop, Morelli said. Because most of what was stolen was in checks, the actual loss to the hospital will be small.

“That doesn’t make it a light situation,” said Morelli.