Sudbury Hospital to Review Security After Disappearance of Newborn

By THE CANADIAN PRESS

SUDBURY, Ont. – The Sudbury Regional Hospital will be examining its procedures with an eye towards improving security after a newborn baby was spirited away from a local maternity ward, officials said Friday.

The child was taken from St. Joseph’s Health Centre on Thursday, triggering an Amber Alert and prompting fears for the baby’s safety after police released surveillance video of a woman, dressed in hospital garb, carrying a blanket-swaddled bundle.

Administrators at St. Joseph’s, which is one of several sites run by the hospital, said they are currently reviewing their security policies, including some that staff do not always follow, such as wearing photo ID badges.

The baby was recovered late Thursday in Kirkland Lake, Ont., a small community about a five-hour drive north of Sudbury.

“In this situation this lady was very sophisticated,” hospital senior vice-president Joe Pilon told a news conference Friday.

“She changed her appearance three times in the hour-and-a-half that she was on the (maternity) unit, and only at the end did she switch into her uniform.”

Now that the baby is safe and sound, questions are being raised about hospital security and how someone who was not related to or acquainted with the child’s parents and not a hospital employee could have had access.

“While it makes it difficult to provide 100 per cent secure premises, we are mindful of the fact that our hospital is home for many, whether it is only for a few days or for a much longer time,” Pilon said.

“We need to ensure the appropriate measures are in place to protect them during their stay.”

Police have charged Brenda Batisse, 29, of Kirkland Lake, with abducting a child. Her live-in boyfriend, Trevor Schram, 29, is also in custody.

Police say Batisse and Schram have no apparent connections to the baby’s parents or even the city of Sudbury.

“At this point in time there is no indication that either of the accused in this matter or the victim’s parents had any interaction prior or any previous involvement,” said Sudbury police acting Insp. Robert Keetch.

Police have not speculated on a possible motive.

Health Minister George Smitherman said he was glad the baby was found, but declined to speculate on what measures hospitals should take to prevent similar incidents in future.

“It’s not for a minister of Health here in downtown Toronto to determine what the appropriate approach to security is in all cases given that we have babies being born in a variety of environments,” he said.

“We have a high expectation that the hospital will do the appropriate thing and we’ll be making sure that we ask all the right questions about that.”

The Sudbury Regional Hospital does not screen visitors, have electronic patient bracelets on babies or key-card access to the maternity ward, but all that will be under review, Pilon said.