The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) briefly considered installing permanent metal detectors until it they found out it would cost $980,000 to staff the detectors every year, according to an article on The Post and Courier website.
There are about two dozen entrances to MUSC’s hospital buildings. Each detector would need to be staffed by three people
The dilemma has played out at other hospitals, too, where leaders are considering how best to protect their facilities as mass shootings become more common. Many find hospital complexes are difficult to protect.
“Hospitals are the institutions we rely on to keep their doors open to everyone, which makes them more difficult to secure,” Schipp Ames, spokesman for the South Carolina Hospital Association, said in an email. “Because healthcare campuses have become more vast, hospitals now have more access and entry points to monitor and protect.”
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