Healthcare Compliance Perspectives:
Compliance and Ethics Committees must ensure facility access systems are effective.
Two armed robbers gained entrance into a Newton, Iowa nursing home in the early morning hours on a Sunday morning. The police say that the two armed men stole medications before quickly leaving the building. The men are reported to have been African American males, and were dressed in black pants and black hoodies. They also had black bandannas on their faces.
Although the facility has a controlled access system, the thieves were able to enter the facility without difficulty. There is an investigation underway to determine to what extent the controlled access system was working. The police are still trying to determine how they got in so easily.
The gunmen took an undisclosed amount of medications, and left the only two employees they confronted very shaken and afraid.
Newton police believe that this robbery is connected to the larger problem of opioid addiction and the growing opioid epidemic throughout the country.
Although the police feel this was an isolated incident and not a threat to the community at large, they did issue a warning to other easy targets to be aware of the threat.
