A heart-stopping theft

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- One million dollars in -- $300,000 out the door.

Hoag Hospital officials rejoiced Sunday over the estimated $1-million

check they’ll receive as a result of this year’s Toshiba Senior Classic

golf tournament.

But at the same time, they are still trying to figure out how someone

managed to wheel a $300,000 ultrasound unit out of the hospital between

10:30 a.m. Feb. 24 and 11:30 a.m. Feb. 25.

At first, a laboratory technician working in Hoag’s echocardiography

department thought one of his colleagues had moved the unit. Although it

weighs about 1,000 pounds, the 3-foot-tall machine can be wheeled easily

around the hospital to allow heart examinations in different rooms.

When that didn’t prove to be the case, the technician alerted hospital

security guards, who could not find the machine anywhere in the hospital.

Police officers arriving at the scene Monday could not find any

fingerprints on a blue plastic tray that is usually attached to the unit

but had been left behind.

Both police and hospital security officials are still reviewing video

surveillance tapes from cameras overlooking Hoag’s entrances and exits.

Nothing has come up so far.

Robert Braithwaite, Hoag’s vice president in charge of cardiology,

said officials hadn’t given up hope of catching any suspicious actions on

camera. But, he added, not all hospital doors are monitored by cameras,

possibly allowing the robbers to leave undetected.

Asked if the unit, which is used to monitor heart activity, could have

been stolen by someone posing as a hospital employee or by an employee,

Braithwaite said nothing has been ruled out.

“We’re not sure at this point,” he said, adding that to his knowledge,

the hospital had never experienced a similar theft.

While the unit -- one of about a dozen around the hospital -- was

covered by Hoag’s insurance policy, Braithwaite said the hospital had to

fork out a “not insignificant” deductible. He said he didn’t know the

exact sum.

Two remaining units are handling the workload for now. Braithwaite

said he expects to replace the missing machine in the future.