Parking Lot Attack Prompts Hospital To Upgrade Security

The threat of workplace violence continues to affect healthcare facilities, and the threats extend well beyond the wells of the facilities.

Consider the case of Providence Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach, Calif., which has announced it will install additional security cameras and hire a security guard after a 77-year-old woman was carjacked last year. Judie Dike, 77, was attacked while walking to her vehicle in the hospital’s parking lot in October 2020, according to Campus Safety. Dike suffered a gash to her head, multiple bruises and scrapes along her entire body

Hospital chief operating officer Terry Wooten recently presented on the planned upgrades for two medical office buildings on campus. A security guard will replace the existing parking attendant from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. Two additional cameras will also be installed at the hospital’s east building and four more will be installed in its west building, including one in the parking lot where Dike was attacked. The cameras are not monitored but record video, according to Wooten.