8 things to know about one physician imposter and his strategy to access a California hospital

More details have come to light on Zaid Bassam Jeorge, the 27-year-old man accused of impersonating a physician at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, Calif.

Here are eight things to know about the physician imposter and his strategy to access the hospital.

1. Mr. Jeorge claimed he was an anesthesiologist with a degree from Boston-based Harvard Medical School. He was arrested Jan. 11 after visiting the hospital physicians' lounge wearing scrubs and a fake Sharp physician's coat.

2. Physicians must have a hospital-issued keycard to visit the lounge, but somebody could potentially enter from an adjacent medical library using a second door with no keycard-activated lock, Grossmont CEO Scott Evans told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

3. Mr. Evans told the publication Mr. Jeorge, an Iraq-born Swedish citizen in California with a visa that expired, could have used the second door or gone behind somebody with a keycard through the main door.

4. At the time of Mr. Jeorge's arrest, he had already connected with some hospital physicians on LinkedIn and made an unknown number of visits to the campus, according to the report. Police eventually got involved following growing suspicions among Grossmont physicians.

5. Mr. Evans told The San Diego Union-Tribune the hospital does not believe Mr. Jeorge was trying to treat patients and appeared to focus on the medical staff.

6. The publication reports hospital administrators denied Mr. Jeorge's multiple requests for access to Grossmont's EMR system.

7. According to Mr. Evans, Mr. Jeorge never received an ID badge or keycard needed to access clinical areas, but he did get a photo of himself in a Grossmont operating room while on a tour conducted by a staff member.

8. Mr. Jeorge was out on bail after his Jan. 11 arrest, but was later re-arrested using "federal resources," an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson told the publication. The 27-year-old was ultimately arraigned on a felony impersonation charge. He is facing deportation, and, if convicted,  he faces up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine, according to the report.

 

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