Kidnapped Infant From Lubbock Found Safe, Was it a Security Lapse?

Originally Posted 3-11-2007
According to local authorities, Mychael Darthard-Dawodu the four day old infant abducted from Covenant Lakeside Hospital has been located safe at a Clovis New Mexico home. The suspect in the abduction is being questioned. We are all thankful that Mychael is safe and will be home with her parents soon.
My question is: how did this abduction happen? I worked Labor and Delivery for many years, both as a staff nurse and a nurse manager. We had layer upon layer of security devices and protocols to prevent just this. We took every precaution humanly possible to prevent infant abductions. It seems there may have been a failure somewhere at Covenant. I can not see where a individual could bypass all the safety precautions in place. And according to a earlier report, another new mother at Covenant Lakeside stated she had seen this individual hanging around in the halls when she was there. Why wasn't she questioned by staff at that time?
With all the drastic cuts in personnel by Covenant, I have to wonder if this may have played a role in the security breakdown. I too, worked the night shift and became increasingly frustrated with the skeleton crew that we were only allowed. If you have ever been to either Covenant Lakeside or Covenant Medical Center after midnight, you know what I am writing about. It is a ghost town. One can walk down the halls and never see a security person nor hospital staff. Maybe appropriate staffing could have prevented this. It was scary to me (as an employee) to go to work late at night or have to go to another floor or to the basement during the night to retrieve medications or supplies. We used to have to go to the basement of Lakeside (St. Mary's at that time) to pick up stat medications. I would never go alone nor let anyone else go alone. There had been a rape that occurred in the basement prior to my employment there. I can't count how many times we were scared to death to go down to the basement. And when we did encounter someone there, we would automatically jump to the conclusion they were perps. When actually they weren't. On several occasions we found drug attics and homeless people in waiting rooms. We would find used syringes in the public restrooms. The parking garages and parking areas seldom patroled and dimly lit. I suppose we are just lucky that more incidents haven't occurred. I hope that the local hospitals will step up security for both patients and staff.