A physician charged with stealing $177,022 worth of medical equipment from Evanston, Ill.-based NorthShore University HealthSystem turned himself into police Monday, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Vinay Rawlani, MD, is accused of stealing an ultrasound machine, two ultrasound probes, a video printer, a video storage device, infusion and compression pumps, an automated external defibrillator, a suction machine and a bladder scanner.
Hospital staff launched an investigation when they realized items were missing. Surveillance footage reviewed by security personnel showed Dr. Rawlani was responsible for the thefts, according to the report.
Dr. Rawlani, 34, who was two months away from completing his residency, admitted he accidentally took some of the equipment while traveling between NorthShore's Evanston and Skokie hospitals.
A NorthShore spokesman told the Tribune that the system has terminated Dr. Rawlani's employment and is working with authorities to ensure he is "prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Dr. Rawlani was also serving as chief resident at the McGaw Medical Center of Chicago-based Northwestern University's plastic surgery program. He has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal review, Northwestern spokesman Alan Cubbage told the Tribune.
Dr. Rawlani is in police custody, being held in lieu of a $10,000 bond on charges of felony theft, according to the report.
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