A Scramble for Security : Violence: Hospitals reaffirm commitment to safety in wake of County-USC shootings. The suspect is arraigned on three counts of attempted murder. Victims are improving.

Alarmed by an irate patient’s bloody siege at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, hospital officials across Southern California on Wednesday were studying ways to bolster security in an effort to reassure staff and the public that other facilities are not vulnerable to similar attacks.

Metal detectors, guard dogs and protective, bulletproof cubicles for emergency room personnel were under consideration as hospital administrators scrambled to reaffirm that safety is a priority, said David Langness, a spokesman for the Hospital Council of Southern California.

The shooting of three doctors and the subsequent five-hour hostage crisis at a County-USC emergency room Monday underscored what already had been mounting concern about violence in emergency rooms, Langness said. Prosecutors said Wednesday that they will seek a sentence of life imprisonment against defendant Damacio Ybarra Torres.

“Nationally, there were nine hospital staff deaths in emergency rooms in 1991, and the 1992 figures are projected to be quite a bit higher than that,” Langness said.

On Wednesday, Torres pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder and two counts of false imprisonment. Officials at County-USC said the walk-in clinic where the shootings took place will remain closed pending remodeling and security improvements.

St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood called an emergency management meeting immediately after the shootings to discuss new security measures, including metal detectors and guard dogs to help security officers quell disturbances, said Linda Woo, a hospital spokeswoman.

Another hospital--which asked not to be identified--plans to build a fence around its complex, with tight security at the gate to control access to patients’ areas.

Many hospitals surveyed Wednesday by the hospital council said the shootings at County-USC have prompted officials to issue weapons to security officers, Langness said. Others said they are investigating the use of guard dogs and the advisability of installing bulletproof barriers between patients and hospital staff who screen them at emergency rooms.

Security has been an uncomfortable topic for hospitals because it goes against their open-door policy to anyone in need. Cash-strapped hospitals have been especially reluctant to invest in guards and expensive security systems because the expense would mean less money for patient care.

“It is a decision most hospitals have not wanted to make, but it is a necessary response to an increasingly violent society,” Langness said.

Meanwhile, a daughter of one of two hostages taken by Torres sharply criticized security at County-USC. “My mom’s very traumatized,” Michelle Rodriguez said of hospital clerk Lily Bragg. “Those employees shouldn’t have to be put day in and day out in that situation.” Dr. Anne Tournay, 32, was also held by Torres.

Torres, a 40-year-old resident of a Skid Row hotel, faces a possible life sentence in the shootings--assuming that victims Drs. Richard May, Paul Kaszubowski and Glenn Rogers continue to recover from gunshot wounds that had initially placed all three in critical condition.

Rogers and Kaszubowski have since been upgraded to fair condition. May was still listed in critical condition Wednesday but was improving slightly, hospital spokeswoman Adelaide De La Cerda said.

Superior Court Commissioner John Ladner set bail for Torres at $1.5 million, although prosecutors argued that he would pose a threat to the community if released. And in an unusual courtroom dialogue, Torres told Ladner that he had agreed to no bail.

Deputy Dist. Atty. David P. Conn said, however, that he thought it unlikely that Torres could muster funds to secure his release.

Torres is also charged with two counts of false imprisonment for holding Bragg and Tournay. Conn said prosecutors would be prepared if defense attorneys contend that Torres was insane. “Our evidence shows that he knew what he was doing,” the prosecutor said.

Conn declined to discuss evidence in detail, saying it could be subject to defense motions that it be disallowed from the trial. In addition to the three firearms, a knife and handcuffs confiscated from Torres upon his surrender, police say they found “written evidence” inside the suspect’s room at the Ford Hotel that demonstrates the incident was premeditated. Torres apparently was motivated by anger over what he considered the slow, inadequate care he received on previous visits to County-USC, police said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the National Rifle Assn. said Wednesday that a check of the group’s membership rolls showed Torres is not a member of the group, although the gun enthusiast had decorated his one-room home with “I’m the NRA” stickers.