Hi-Desert Medical Center was locked down for about an hour Thursday morning, due to a bomb threat. According to the hospital’s Director of Facilities Bob Baker, a woman was riding on a bus and said that a man seated next to her was talking to himself and said, “I’m here now, time to blow it up,” and then he got off the bus at the hospital. The woman continued on to Copper Mountain College where she told her counselor there about the bomb threat. Baker said the hospital received a call from the college at 8:45 a.m. that warned them about the bomb threat. After notifying security and the hospital’s chief executive officer, Baker called the Sheriff’s Department. Baker said about 10 deputies swarmed the hospital, and they searched all the rooms and closets, looked under furniture, in garbage cans, and outside, but did not find a bomb. During the search, ambulances were diverted to Desert Hospital in Palm Springs and visitors and patients were turned away. The hospital was re-opened at 9:40 a.m. Baker said, “Whenever you have something happen, you find things to improve upon, and we’ll be working on those.”
