A former Atmore Community Hospital part-time employee was arrested recently, after confessing that he secretly recorded co-workers in an ACH employees’ bathroom in August 2014.

Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks confirmed that Curtis Overstreet, 49, of Jackson, was charged with three counts of criminal surveillance. He was later released on bond.

ACH Administrator Bill Perkins said that the incident actually took place almost a year ago. Overstreet was a part-time radiology technician, who primarily worked on the weekends.

Perkins said it was common for employees in the radiology department to charge their phones in a small bathroom located behind the control room. The bathroom is not open to the general public, and requires security clearance to access.

Perkins said that an employee noticed one phone had been strangely propped up against a wall, and had its recording light on. The wall is directly opposite of the single toilet in the bathroom.

“The employees told me about it and we got the ball rolling quickly to handle the situation,” Perkins said. “We were about to fire (Overstreet), but he got wind of it and resigned.”

Overstreet resigned on Aug. 20, 2014, Perkins said. He has not been working at the hospital since.
Although Overstreet has not been employed at ACH for almost a year, Brooks said the criminal investigation into the case continued for months. Authorities executed a search warrant at Overstreet’s home in Jackson, seizing laptop computers and cell phones, but were unable to find any evidence of recordings.

However, Overstreet eventually confessed to Brooks and was arrested by Monroeville police on Monday, July 20. Brooks said Overstreet was working in a Monroeville hospital at the time.

Perkins noted that Baptist Health Care, which managed the hospital in 2014, and ACH administrative staff moved as quickly as possible to address the incident.

“I hate that this happened, because a hospital is a place of public trust, and we care deeply about our community,” Perkins said. “The actions of one employee certainly do not reflect on the entire staff. We did what we needed to do, and we did it quickly.”

Perkins said it was especially disappointing, because Overstreet took advantage of his fellow co-workers.

“We have a very close-knit family among our employees,” Perkins said. “They trust each other and care for each other. That’s why it was so disappointing to have this happen.”