Legacy Health leadership will be increasing security across all of its locations following the death of Bobby Smallwood, the security officer shot and killed at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center last week.
The healthcare company president and CEO, Kathryn Correia, said hospitals will adopt more robust screenings and safety improvements for doors and windows. Select security guards will also carry Tasers.
“The emotional toll of this shooting continues to ripple across our 14,000 Legacy employees and into the communities we serve,” Correia said in a statement Saturday.
Legacy is installing metal detectors and will search bags at every hospital, she said. Some hospitals will see metal detectors as soon as Monday.
Bullet-slow film will be added to the glass at the hospitals’ main entrances, emergency departments and internal doors.
Lead security officers are now armed with Tasers, and that policy will expand to all security officers with the proper certification, Correia said.
Just before 11 a.m. July 22, officers responded to reports of a shooting on the fifth floor of Good Samaritan. Police swarmed the blocks surrounding the hospital, but quickly determined the shooter had left the hospital.
Smallwood, 44, had been shot, and was taken to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, where he later died. A second hospital employee was injured by shrapnel.
The suspect, identified by police as PoniaX Kane Calles, was found hours later in Gresham, where police shot and killed him after a standoff. Calles had threatened hospital staff three days prior to the shooting, according to sources familiar with the investigation. He was at the hospital for a partner who was giving birth to their child.
Correia said the health care company will consider safety improvements at medical office buildings and clinics over the next several months.
– Austin De Dios; adedios@oregonian.com; @austindedios; 503-319-9744
