Health Sciences North said a process change has been made in response to the discovery of a man's body inside a car that appeared to have been parked for several weeks in the hospital parking lot this spring.
The body of Rae Cameron, aged 62, was discovered inside a parked vehicle on June 10. A news release from Greater Sudbury Police Service said the body was discovered by hospital staff around 4:30 p.m. on that day. News of the discovery was not released until six days later, on June 16.
Cameron had been reported missing on or about March 7. It is not known how long his body had been in the vehicle.
It is also not known how long Cameron’s vehicle with his body inside had been sitting in the hospital parking lot before any action was taken. Health Sciences North has not made public any information on what its internal investigation of the incident turned up.
HSN communications officer Didier Pilon said an administrative change has been made at the hospital in response to the incident.
"Health Sciences North has updated its process for reports of abandoned vehicles in the parking lot to ensure timely documentation and investigation occurs. We are also conducting an internal review to identify other system improvements," Pilon said in an email to Sudbury.com.
"The safety of our staff and visitors remains a priority at HSN," he added.
In the same email, he said the incident posed no danger to anyone.
"HSN Security continues to monitor parking lots regularly. While the Greater Sudbury Police Services and HSN’s internal review confirm that this event did not pose a risk to staff or the public, HSN security services continue to provide security escorts to vehicles should anyone feel unsafe," Pilon's email continued.
Greater Sudbury Police Service said this week that Cameron's death was investigated as a sudden death, that a post-mortem was carried out and police confirmed that no foul play was involved in his death.
Len Gillis covers health care and mining for Sudbury.com.
