PLATTSBURGH — Certain events this year have forced University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital leadership into revamping their safety and security measures at the hospital.

CVPH President Michelle LeBeau says a close-call event on Feb. 13, when local Plattsburgh man Robert Thibodeau was arrested for allegedly attempting to bring firearms to the hospital and use them on staff, had the initial effect on their perspectives.

In a recent episode of the Press-Republican’s Press Pass Podcast, LeBeau said the February incident was the first big event of that sort that the hospital, Plattsburgh and larger Clinton County region has experienced.

“It really took all of us back,” she said.

“It was an opportunity to kind of step back and think about the fact that this beautiful little part of the country that we live in, and we’ve felt so protected in for so long, really is vulnerable to what the rest of the United States and different parts of the world are experiencing. So for us, it was, first and foremost, a big deep breath moment.”

As previously reported by the Press-Republican, Thibodeau, 52, was apprehended by police just a football field shy of hospital grounds on Prospect Avenue near Broad Street in the City of Plattsburgh.

COURT APPEARANCE

In March, Thibodeau was arraigned in Clinton County Court and indicted on 11 charges relating to the incident.

Court documents showed the 11 counts he is facing break down into: three counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree; one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree; three counts of criminal possession of a firearm; one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree; and three counts of unlawful possession of an ammunition feeding device.

Thibodeau was back in court Wednesday, June 5 for further proceedings on the 11-count indictment.

Judge Keith Bruno said Wednesday the prosecution and defense are still working on a potential resolution to Thibodeau’s indictment and he is expected back in court July 22 at 2:30 p.m.

Over the past few months, LeBeau said the situation gave leadership an opportunity to step in and “start to think about what are the things that we need to begin to do differently?”

“How do we think about our hospital differently? How do we change experience for our staff differently?” she said.

“And then what will that mean for patients as we start to engage in how we care for them differently in order to make sure that our folks feel safe caring for them?”

She said the experience in February also allowed leadership to approach things more rapidly in April when CVPH initiated a lock down of the hospital’s main campus after a credible threat to a provider was received.

LeBeau said during the lockdown, they focused on pieces that had been put into place like how they could move more quickly; the work they had done with law enforcement; ensuring their doors could lock down more rapidly; and the work they had done with staff to know what to do when they hear certain things.

Because of the two experiences, LeBeau said at this moment in time, new visitors of the hospital may notice some differences now.

“The things that they see, really is going to be around signage … It’s (also) going to be felt in conversations that they might have with our people,” she said.

“If we have visitors that are anxious or fearful or might be using language or approaching staff in a way that makes them feel threatened; it could be in hearing more announcements in areas that you didn’t hear before. Our PA system has been updated. It might be in access. So we have different parts of the hospital that are more difficult to access, doors are locked, you can’t get in at the same times of the day that you might have been able to reach the hospital earlier.”

“And it’ll be in those spaces at this moment in time,” she continued. “Eventually, we will have a space where you might need to check in as a visitor or you’ll have a badge as a visitor and we’ll be keeping track of the folks that are within our hospitals so that we know who’s where, where they are within the facility, when they come and go.”

POSSIBLE CHANGES

Metal detectors and security officers, which are typically seen in bigger hospitals, have been discussed as well, LeBeau added.

“We want to think about what is the care that we want patients to experience and when we talk about metal detectors, they’re great to a point. You have to know what to do when somebody comes through and you hear buzzing and beeping,” she said.

“Getting the right security guards can be difficult. We have a wonderful security staff … they’re well trained (but) they’re not an armed security staff. There are rules around that, we’re sourcing through what does it mean to have an armed security staff, but there are things that you have to pick through to make sure that you’re doing the right things at the right time for both the patients and the staff that are in the facility, and metal detectors are not the end all be all for things.”

Any changes that have been made or will be made, LeBeau then assured, will not affect patient care either.

“In the end, patients will still receive the same care that they’ve always received.”