Wedekind arrested on theft charges
By SHARON KERR Staff writer

Larry Wedekind, owner of Dickerson Memorial Hospital, was arrested at his home in Kingwood May 1 on an alleged theft of services indictment by the Jasper County Grand Jury.

According to Harris County Deputy Frances Walters, Wedekind was released on a $10,000 bond May 2.

According to at Houston Police spokesperson, Wedekind was arrested without incident at his home by Houston Police at 9:10 p.m. Wednesday, April 30.

The spokesperson said HPD's Major Offense Division was alerted that Wedekind had a felony warrant out for his arrest.

The indictment was filed with District Clerk Linda Ryall in Jasper County March 25. The charge was theft of service for more than $1,500 but less than $20,000, and states in part that Lawrence Jerome Wedekind, defendant, "with intent to avoid payment for a service" failed to pay for radiology and laboratory services to several individuals.

Dickerson Memorial Hospital Adminstrator John Tatum said that "he has no heard from Larry is three days. I have been trying to reach him but he hasn't returned any phone calls."

A day earlier, Tatum said insisted that there was no warrant out for Wedekind and that the warrant that had been announced last week had been taken care of.

Several former employees told The Jasper Newsboy that they have consulted a lawyer regarding problems with their paychecks and health insurance premiums, but they have not filed a complaint yet.

Tracie Wolfford, an LVN who was Dr. Joe Dickerson's office manager, said she found out health insurance premiums had not been paid by the hospital when she took her son to the emergency room with a broken leg.

"I had a payroll deduction (for health insurance), about $500 a month taken out of my check, and then come to find out we had no insurance when we needed it," Wolfford said.

Diane Hough, the former business office director, said she had surgery for a hernia and then found had she had no insurance, even though it had been deducted from her paycheck for more than a year.

Lisa McDonald, who served the hospital as an office manager and department head, said employees were getting bad credit as a result of payroll check problems.

"When we try to cash our paychecks, no one in town will take them. When we put the check in our bank, in 14 days they tell us it didn't clear," McDonald said.

"I had my children in this hospital," Mcdonald said. "But everybody's got bills to pay."