Dayton Children's Medical Center planning to discriminate against CHL-holders

OFCC has learned that Children's Medical Center in Dayton, a privately-owned, for-profit hospital, has adopted the Ohio Hospital Association's victim-zone mentality, and is planning to post discriminatory signs to ward off law-abiding customers.

According to our sources, the following internal communication was recently dispatched by hospital bureaucrats:

Children's working on policy to prevent concealed weapons
Date posted: February 5, 2004

Ohio's new concealed carry law, which becomes effective April 8, 2004, allows Ohioans who meet certain criteria to obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun.

The law excludes some places such as schools, airports, courthouses and daycare centers. However, license holders are not prevented from carrying a concealed weapon into a private hospital unless the hospital adopts their own policies banning all firearms including concealed handguns on their premises.

To be ready for the implementation of this law, Children's is drafting a new policy that addresses concealed weapons and dangerous ordnance. This policy will specifically state that Children's prohibits deadly weapons and dangerous ordnance on all Children's premises, including structures, driveways, and parking lots. This policy will apply to all visitors, employees, patients, trespassers, or customers whether on their person or vehicle.

We will keep you informed about the progress of this policy as it continues to take shape during the review process. If you have any questions concerning this topic, please call Tom Neel at XXXX.

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One source told OFCC that just two weeks after Children's adminstrators distributed this internal communication, members of the Dayton Police Department and SWAT searched the hospital for a violent criminal known for frequenting the CMC campus! On this occasion, the criminal had just stabbed a woman, and past experience led police to suspect he may have been hiding on hospital property.

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

The following is an internal e-mail reportedly sent to all employees at Children's, referring to a situation where a criminal had stabbed a woman in the neighborhood, and was thought by police to possibly be hiding out inside CMC. According to our source, the criminal had been found at CMC in the past, after other violent domestic altercations.

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On February 17, 2004 at around 11:00 pm, officers from the Dayton Police Department (DPD) entered the main entrance at Children's without warning in search of a suspect involved in a domestic altercation in the neighborhood. The DPD officers had their weapons visible and may have startled parents, children and staff in and around the Emergency Department. The DPD officers left the facility within 15 minutes and ultimately found their suspect elsewhere in the neighborhood.

Children's has an excellent relationship with the DPD. However we are using this rare occurrence to evaluate whether a better process or method can be used if a similar situation arises in the future.

As you know, our primary concern is the health and safety of our patients, their families and our staff. If you are asked about the incident, please reassure families that this was a highly unusual event at Children’s and was ultimately proven to be a false alarm. Share with them that Children's has a well-trained security team on-site, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This situation is a good reminder that safety and security is everyone's responsibility at Children's. We all need to remember to pay attention to our surroundings and to watch for people who seem out of place or who may be a threat to our children, families, physicians, employees or volunteers. Please report any concerns to security right away.

If you have any questions please call Tom Neel at ext. XXXX or Edd McGatha at ext. XXXX.

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Customers of this hospital deserve to know that in spite of a history of having a violent criminal frequenting hospital property, CMC's "well-trained security team", which is "on-site, 24 hours a day, seven days a week", is forced to do their job while completely UNARMED.

Does this sound like a business whose "primary concern is the health and safety of our patients, their families and our staff"?

Children's Medical Center company policies or signs will be no better at deterring armed criminals than Ohio's 150 year-old concealed carry ban has been. The only thing CMC administrators will be accomplishing by posting discriminatory signs will be to identify their business as a defenseless victim zone the next time a criminal needs a hideout - and, perhaps, encouraging customers truly concerned about their safety to take their business elsewhere.

Related Story:
Ohio Hospital Association encouraging victim zone mentality