Richmond police show concern over dangers of former hospital

RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) - Richmond city officials are worried about the dangers of a vacated hospital building after a Richmond teenager fell through its floor.

Three friends were exploring inside the former Reid Health hospital buildings just after midnight Sept. 23 when one of them plunged through the floor, the Palladium-Item reported (http://pinews.co/2daLsye).

His friends helped the 17-year-old outside where he was met by the Richmond Fire Department and Richmond Police Department. A fire department ambulance then took him to the current Reid Health facility when he complained of lower back pain.

Richmond Police Chief Jim Branum said the department previously had emphasized to the public that no one should enter the building because of the possibility of such incidents.

"We've predicted that this was going to happen," Branum said. "That's why we don't want people to go in there. We continue to emphasize that people are not to be in that building."

The fire and police departments have restricted their employees from entering the building unless there's a threat to life. However the fire department has already responded to two intentional fires at the site within the past six months.

Reid Health owned and operated at the site from 1904 to 2008.

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Information from: Palladium-Item, http://www.pal-item.com