Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center adds armed security www.privateofficer.com

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Pittsburgh PA Oct 5 2012 UPMC plans to add armed security guards to itshospitals and redesign the entrance to Western Psychiatric Institute &Clinic because of the March 8 shootings that killed a therapist and woundedfive in the clinic.

Allegheny CountyDistrict Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., who started a team to review UPMCsecurity, told municipal officials that the hospital system committed $10million to upgrades. Zappala plans on Tuesday to discuss his review of theshootings by ex-graduate student John Shick, 30, who opened fire in the Oakland hospital, killing Michael Schaab, 25, of Regent Square, andwas fatally shot by University of Pittsburgh police.
They’re committed tocreating a state-of-the-art facility to look after the safety and security ofnot only the patients, but also the staff, said John Hudson, a former SecretService agent who heads the team.A memo sent to UPMCemployees outlines security changes at facilities that mirror recommendationsfrom Zappalas team.UPMC officials would not say how much they arespending for the security overhaul but acknowledged the changes will includethe use of Tasers, permanent security posts in all hospital lobbies and aredesign of the entrances at Western Psych.
UPMC will place atleast one armed officer during all shifts at its hospitals in Allegheny Countyand UPMC Hamot in Erie,according to a memo to employees obtained by the Tribune-Review.The memo said armed officers will be trainedand licensed to carry firearms. UPMC will consider placing armed officers atother hospitals on an individual basis. UPMC spokesman Paul Wood did not knowwhether the plan will involve hiring officers.Zappala said last month that UPMC wasconsidering forming a police department in response to the Western Psychshootings and to the kidnapping of a newborn from Magee-WomensHospital, another UPMC facility in Oakland.
Some officers willcarry Tasers as a further deterrent to potential incidents,†the memo said.Full-time security officers will wear protective vests.The beefed-up measures will be felt in allUPMC emergency rooms in Allegheny County, where officialswill install walk-through magnetometers. Security officers will search allbags, backpacks and purses.
UPMC will redesign Western Psychs DeSoto Streetentrance for patients and visitors. The hospitals main OHara Street entrance will become anemployee-only entrance. There will be an armed University of Pittsburghofficer at that entrance 24 hours a day, UPMC spokeswoman Gloria Kreps said.Wood said some of the changes will occurimmediately but could not provide a specific timeline. Officials are in theprocess of evaluating security measures at UPMCs nonhospital facilities.The memo said existing measures meet industrystandards but opportunities to enhance security were identified.
Hudson said hisrecommendations include separate entrances for staff and visitors at WesternPsych, an improved camera system and requiring both a badge and a code toaccess certain areas. He plans to submit his final recommendations to Zappalain two weeks.Both security teams have been working verywell together, Hudsonsaid.Zappala spoke on Friday at the Fall Conferenceof Townships, Boroughs & Authorities at Seven Springs. Grace Stanko, a Rosscommissioner who attended the conference, said Zappala and Hudson gave a detailedpresentation of UPMCs planned security upgrade.It truly is really sad we have to do thesethings today, Stanko said. You used to be able to go to the hospital and not haveto worry about getting shot.The Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration said it will not fine UPMC in connection with the Western Psychshootings.Hudson, president of consulting firm J.P.Hudson & Associates, said his recommendations include adding a metaldetector, X-ray machine, armed guard and lockdown mechanism to a separatevisitor entrance at Western Psych. An improved camera and video surveillancesystem would allow law enforcement to tap into the feed, Hudson said.They can pull it up on a laptop, he said. ?Theycan determine which way to come in, where the actor is, things like that.Hudson said that his focushas been UPMC facilities with a behavioral health unit and that he has not reviewedMagee. In August, police charged Breona Moore, 19, in the abduction of a3-day-old baby from the maternity ward. Police caught Moore in a Downtown building and recoveredthe child.

source-tribweb.com