An unverified phone threat forced Luminis Health to place both of its major Maryland hospitals on Code Black lockdown Monday, temporarily halting ambulance transports to its Annapolis campus and prompting an increased police presence in Lanham that remained in effect hours later. Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center lifted its lockdown after an initial assessment, while the emergency department at Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center in Lanham stayed locked down as a precaution.
According to Eye On Annapolis, Luminis Health confirmed it received the unverified phone threat and immediately contacted law enforcement to investigate. While the Code Black was active, EMS crews could not transport patients to the Annapolis hospital, forcing a temporary diversion of acute cases elsewhere in the region. The outlet also noted that, contrary to rumors circulating online, there was no gunman on the Annapolis campus.
Code Black is a standard hospital emergency code typically used to signal a bomb threat or suspicious package, though some health systems also invoke it during severe personal-security threats, according to Medical News Today. The color-coded system is designed to alert staff quickly to a specific danger without triggering panic among patients in the building.
Two Campuses, Two Different Outcomes
The split response between the two hospitals points to differing threat assessments made by law enforcement at each location. Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, a 349-bed acute care hospital on a 57-acre campus that also houses one of Maryland’s highest-volume birth units, resumed normal operations relatively quickly after its lockdown was lifted. Doctors Community Medical Center in Lanham, which has more than 220 staffed beds and serves as the only acute care hospital in northern Prince George’s County, kept its emergency department locked down as a precaution well after the Annapolis campus stood down, with police presence increased on-site…