CHARLESTON, S.C. – In the same place that promises the highest level of care to patients, there are allegations of broken trust among the most vulnerable.
“This needs to change. It needs to change now,” says Mary Becker, who lost her husband, Robert, at Trident Medical Center in North Charleston in April 2020.
“Losing someone you love is hard enough,” Becker says, “but knowing that someone robbed [my husband] as he lay there dying. It breaks my heart.”
Live 5 Investigates first highlighted the issue in September. Tim Holt had to bury his father without his wedding ring and his wife’s wedding ring, which he wore around his neck. Both items, Holt claims, went missing from Trident Medical Centre and never turned up after his father’s death.
In Becker’s case, she says the missing items are not nearly as sentimental as Holt’s, but the questions she is left with will haunt her for the rest of her life.
Shortly after Robert was taken to Trident, Becker says his down vest with a phone charger in it went missing, and his mobile phone died as a result.
“It was strange. He always had his mobile phone with him. He was a tech guy,” says Becker.
Cases of COVID-19 had just started to rise in the midst of the global pandemic, and Becker says Robert’s mobile phone was the easiest way to reach him, as she couldn’t go to the hospital freely. Becker says she didn’t panic, though, because he could use the hospital room phone as a backup.
But in the last week of Robert’s life, Becker says her husband’s mobile phone, which contained valuable information such as credit cards, disappeared completely and she never got it back.
“You don’t want to do that to people who are dying. Do you want people going into your hospital, sick and dying, and being robbed?” Becker says.
Becker says that in the hours and days following her husband’s death, she received letters in the mail saying someone was trying to steal his information.
On 29 April, the day Robert died of complications from polycystic kidney disease, Becker received a letter in the mail saying her credit cards had been placed on a “temporary protective hold” due to suspicious activity.
On 7 May, she received another letter saying someone was trying to change the pin on Robert’s phone, which she still has not received back.
“He’s been dead since the 29th, this is dated 7 May. So clearly it wasn’t him who changed the pin,” says Becker.
Becker’s story is in addition to more than 75 reported thefts at Trident since January 2018, according to North Charleston police reports. That’s just a fraction of the more than 650 reported thefts at Trident, Roper St Francis’ downtown hospital and the Medical University of South Carolina’s two downtown campuses combined.
According to data from the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety, nearly 6% of patients experienced theft in 2022, a figure that advocates for stricter policies on patient property say is far too high. Items reported stolen include jewellery, wallets and mobile phones.
Becker says Trident has been unable to locate her husband’s missing belongings, despite letters she received saying someone had them.
While Trident and other Lowcountry hospitals say they have policies in place to protect patients from theft, the hundreds of theft reports suggest those policies do not always work. Live 5 News discovered there is also no state law regulating these policies.
It’s an issue that wasn’t on the radar of some lawmakers before Live 5’s reporting.
“No, it wasn’t [brought to my attention], and I was glad when you reached out to me,” says Rep. Sylleste Davis, chair of the House 3M (Military, Medical and Municipal Affairs) Committee.
“I think this is something that the medical community is more than willing to sit down and discuss,” says Davis.
Currently, there is no South Carolina law protecting everyday patients from theft, only mental health patients. Section 44-22-120 states, “Personal property of a patient brought into the hospital and stored by the hospital shall be inventoried. Receipts shall be given to the patient and at least one other interested person.
Davis says she thinks this is something that could be applied to all patients, especially those who are dying and slowly slipping out of reality.
“I know that the members of my committee would be happy to work on this as well,” says Davis.
Schipp Ames, vice president of strategic marketing and communications at the South Carolina Hospital Association, says the issue of hospital theft has been discussed in the past within the organisation, but it is not a top priority.
“A lot of our issues lately have a lot to do with how our business works and it’s not as much of those operational challenges, but this is certainly something that seems like it could be solved with internal policies at hospitals,” says Ames.
As for the families already affected by the allegations of theft, they say the damage has already been done.
“I don’t know that I would want to do business with a company or institution that was forced to do the right thing,” says Becker. “I can’t imagine a company not complying without us having to make a law, but if that’s the only way to protect patients and their families, then we need a law. I don’t know that we have any other choice.
Trident Medical Centre officials declined to go on camera on several occasions and refused to provide their policy on patient possessions. Trident Medical Centre spokesman Rod Whiting provided a statement previously given to Live 5 News, which said:
We understand that being admitted to hospital can be stressful. That’s why patients are given the opportunity to store their belongings in a safe place. If they choose not to, they’ll be given storage options to help them keep their belongings with them. In the rare event that something valuable is misplaced, we can review the patient’s journey through the hospital and review security footage.