Police say s 38-year-old woman will likely be charged Tuesday, accused of dealing heroin from her hospital bed in the intensive care unit at Excela Westmoreland County hospital in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Excela Vice President of Marketing, Jennifer Miele, described an unusual amount of activity centered around the patient’s room.
“What they [staff] noticed last week was an exorbitant amount of foot traffic happening to a patient’s room. Not patients coming to stay two hours, but patients coming to stay two minutes. They thought that was really odd so they contacted security at Excela Westmoreland Hospital.”
In addition to being one of the more popular patients in the ward, Greensburg Police Capt. Chad Zucco said her visitors did not know her last name, which piqued the curiosity of hospital staff…that, and the fact that the patient has multiple cell phones in her room that rang at all hours of the night and day.
After the staff notified police, and surveillance was conducted, an undercover informant was sent in to make a buy.
“The confidential informant was able to purchase approximately 30 bags of heroin from her. In a subsequent search of her person and her room, they were able to confiscate 380 bags of heroin, approximately $3,800 street value,” Zucco said.
Police said she hid the drugs in her purse and in the drawers of her room, and are still investigating how she was able to get the drugs inside the hospital. They also say they found $1,420 in cash.
No information was given as to why the patient had been admitted to the ICU other than it was “unrelated.”
That being said, police also found heroin in her IV drip.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.