(November 9, 2009)

ALICE--Hundreds of private medical records left out in the open in Alice. A tip to the 3 newsroom lead us to the abandoned three-story hospital and what we found may suprise you.

You can walk right into the old Alice Regional Hospital without any problems. Once inside, we found hospital records with private information that would make it easy for someone to steal your identity.

Alice Regional Hosptial has been shut down for years, but that didn't stop us from getting inside. We walked right through this sliding door. And found this.

It was several boxes of old hospital records. Filled with years of sensitive information.

"Somebody needs to do something about it," said Janie Villarreal, an Alice resident. "Investigate who opened the back door. This is news to me."

Also inside. There was Debri all over the floor and copper thieves have had a field day.

"When somebody goes in there and breaks in and takes property that's not theirs, that's wrong," said Mario Alfaro, an Alice resident. 

There was evidence of squatters with broken glass and junk, making the building a public hazard.

"Oh absolutely not," said Ray De Los Santos, the Alice City Manager. "We would never want a homeless person to access a building like that."

After we told city leaders about the hospital, they sent an officer over to make sure the location was secure.

The owners report three times since July they have locked up the place only to have this board removed. The city will require they keep it locked up.

--Manuel De La Rosa, Area 3 News, mdelarosa@kiiitv.com