An intruder broke into a Colorado hospital and intentionally disrupted its oxygen supply in the early hours of September 3, according to officials. The incident occurred around 3:30 a.m. at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora.
An unidentified suspect gained access to the hospital's outdoor oxygen storage facility and tampered with it, Dan Weaver, a spokesperson for UCHealth, told The Denver Post. The hospital, which has 831 beds, stores its oxygen on the university's Anschutz Medical Campus. Alarms that trigger when oxygen pressure drops alerted hospital staff, who switched to a backup supply before any patients were affected. Additional oxygen tanks were also available throughout the medical center.
A suspect is in custody but has not been identified, the University of Colorado Boulder Police Department confirmed. The intruder was not employed by the hospital and did not receive assistance in accessing the oxygen supply.
Surveillance footage showed a person scaling a fence near the oxygen tanks before fleeing the area two minutes later. Police noted that the suspect's movements suggested they had knowledge of the system. The individual was seen wearing dark gray pants and a long-sleeved shirt, but no further descriptive details were available.
The motive behind the targeting of the hospital's oxygen supply remains unclear, and hospital staff have not disclosed how many patients were on supplemental oxygen at the time. The incident has led to an increased security presence at the hospital.
Cara Welch, a spokesperson for the Colorado Hospital Association, stated that the organization has no prior knowledge of similar incidents and commended the hospital's swift response. She confirmed that backup systems and trained staff ensured the situation was managed without patient impact.
Tampering with a hospital's central oxygen supply can pose severe risks, including rapid drops in patient oxygen pressure, ventilator disruptions, and critical impacts on patients under general anesthesia, premature infants in the NICU, and individuals with severe respiratory failure. A lack of oxygen to the brain can cause damage within minutes if completely cut off.
