Hidden camera found in patient's room at James A Haley VA hospital

Family discovers 'covert camera' in Haley VA patient's room
By William R. Levesque
Times Staff Writer
In Print: Tuesday, July 10, 2012

TAMPA — Joseph Carnegie's son-in-law last month noticed an odd-looking smoke detector on the ceiling of the severely brain-damaged 80-year-old's private room at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center.

It wasn't there the day before.

The son-in-law, Mike Coleman, took a closer look that day, June 15. He thought he could see a tiny camera lens inside. His wife, Natalie Carnegie, asked a nurse, who she said assured her it was just a new smoke alarm.

In fact, it was a camera.

Officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital confirmed to the Tampa Bay Times that they ordered the installation of a small camera in Carnegie's room without his family's consent. They say it is medically necessary to monitor Carnegie's fragile health 24 hours a day.

Haley administrators deny it is a hidden camera, though they could not explain why they selected this particular model. The camera's manufacturer, Vonnic, describes it like this on its website: "C401W Smoke Detector Covert Camera."
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