By Roger Lanse

A caller from Gila Regional Medical Center’s ER reported on Monday, Oct, 26, 2020, at approximately 6:54 p.m. that a female patient had damaged the ceiling in one of the ER’s rooms. When a Silver City police officer arrived the officer noticed part of the ceiling in Room 7 was “torn apart and some of the material was hanging off from (the) ceiling. According to a SCPD report, a GRMC employee stated repairing the damage would cost about $600. The employee also stated he wanted to pursue charges against the female and wanted her off the property.

The employee said, according to the report, the female had been at GRMC for about eight hours, being seen for THC detox, and was waiting to be transferred to Las Cruces.

When the officer interviewed the female patient, she stated, the report said, that she suffers from PTSD and denied any knowledge of how the ceiling became damaged. The GRMC employee stated the ceiling was not damaged before they placed the patient in Room 7 and when a nurse went in to check on her she was found underneath the sink and the ceiling was damaged. 

According to the report, the female patient was removed from the property and the officer stated an affidavit for an arrest warrant for criminal damage to property will be filed.