14 DAY TRIAL // A patient who was being treated at Excela Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, faces drug charges after local police allegedly found more than 380 stamp bags of heroin in her hospital room.
Police believe that Lori Sullenberger, from Youngwood, sold heroin from her hospital bed while she was in the intensive care unit, where she was being treated for an unknown ailment.
According to The Wire, the 38-year-old woman's scheme was discovered after workers in the hospital’s intensive care unit noticed suspicious activity in her room. She had a lot of visitors who only stayed for a few minutes and didn't even know her last name, which led staff to suspect they were not friends or family members. Moreover, they noticed that Sullenberger had several telephones that rang all the time.
Excela Hospital spokeswoman Robin Jennings explained that staff noticed unusual activity in and out of her room and decided to monitor what was happening on surveillance cameras.
“The Intensive care Unit is where our sickest of the sick patients are, so our staff are very attuned to what is happening in the patient’s rooms. What they observed was an inordinate amount of foot traffic into a patient’s room,” Jennings told ABC News.
After being alerted by the hospital's security director, Greensburg Police sent an undercover informant to buy 30 bags of heroin from the woman. A subsequent police search of her hospital room, officers discovered about 380 bags of heroin, with an estimated street value of about $3,800 (€2,750), two syringes and about $1,400 (€1,000) in cash.
“She will be charged with possession with intent to deliver, delivery of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and probably a paraphernalia charge as well,” Police Chief Captain Chad Zucco said.
It is believed that the woman sold drugs from her hospital bed from April 14 until April 18. The controlled substance was reportedly kept in her purse and in hospital room drawers, but now officers are trying to find out how she got the drugs inside the medical care unit in the first place.
Sullenberger is currently still in hospital, and her boyfriend and another man are also facing misdemeanor drugs-related charges.
The hospital staff believes that the incident should spark concerns among authorities about the widespread drug abuse in the county.
“I think what our reaction is is one of sadness about the level of drug activity in Westmoreland County. It is very dismaying to our caregivers that we have this level of drug overdoses in the county,” Robin Jennings said.