Providence Mission Hospital administrators will present potential security upgrades for their Laguna Beach campus during the March 23 city council meeting.
The announcement follows news reports on the October 2020 carjacking of Judie Dike, a 77-year-old Laguna Niguel resident, and hospital administrators’ failure to implement any of her security recommendations more than four months later.
These safety enhancements will encompass the lower campus, medical office building and parking areas, Assistant City Manager Shohreh Dupuis wrote in an email.
“We won’t be sharing any information until after the March 23 City Council meeting,” Carrie Miller, a Mission Hospital spokesperson wrote in an email Tuesday.
Dike work privately for months to see the installation of 14 security cameras at strategic points inside and outside South Coast Medical Center. She also wants to see a security guard present in the lot during hospital hours. Hospital administrators were still mulling the idea for new cameras earlier this month.
Senior city staffers, hospital administrators, Laguna Beach police chief Robert Thompson, and councilmember Peter Blake joined a March 10 meeting to discuss security matters at the hospital.
“The Laguna Beach Police Department is encouraged by the sustained commitment the MHLB has demonstrated in partnering with us to provide robust public safety at their facility,” Thompson said in a prepared statement. “We are engaged in monthly discussions with them about being good partners for our community and are looking forward to reviewing some proposals on enhancements to the physical security of their campus.”
This dialogue between the hospital and city leaders is a long time coming, Dike said.
“I trust they won’t try to apply a security Band-Aid and that they will work with the city and police department to bring a satisfactory solution for the safety of our community, patients, and hospital staff,” Dike said.
