My uncle fell at his assisted living facility. He was sent to a hospital and subsequently went to a rehabilitation facility for a week. He gave me his hearing aids at the hospital, and I placed them in plastic medical glove. I placed the glove by his nightstand in his room so he could find them when he returned to the assisted living facility. The medical glove was purple.
I asked the facility if they clean a room when someone is gone for so long? They said they could. I was informed that they had their in-house crew clean his room. When he returned the glove was gone.
Unfortunately, because the aids were in what is considered medical waste/bio-hazard - a nitrile glove, it's not the facility's fault that it was tossed. Often, when taking off gloves, items that were used for cares are bundled inside and no one would think to check.
Maybe insurance will cover part of this accidental loss?
At the very least you'd put them in a drawer in his room in a labeled container, but really, you'd either take them in a labeled container to the RN on duty and have them locked up for him with his meds or you'd take them home with you.
Sorry.
I just don't know what to say.
I hope the hearing aids won't be too expensive to replace.
Hospitals tell us, over and over NOT to leave anything of value with the patient. Even giving them a bag to store their clothes can be an iffy proposition.
You put the aids in a glove that looked like all the other hospital gloves and it probably was picked up and thrown away before the room was given it's final cleaning--so probably even while your uncle was IN the room. The cleaning staff come through all day long and don't have time to check every wadded up tissue or random glove.
You can reach out to the hospital, but don't expect them to take ownership of this loss. I'm sorry.
A glove is considered trash. If a dinner tray came out, even items on a table could have been tossed. Also when patients are disoriented, it is quite possible that items get put in unusual places.
Hospitals do lose dentures hearing aids and eye wear. Some hospitals do have a complaint area.
My story: mom was in AL and frequently I would find her dentures missing. If she forgot to take them out at night, she would either put them on the nighstand or under or inside her pillowcase. I would track the usual places and occasionally found them under the bed.
It the hearing aides were in their designated box or a specific container hospitals use (like for dentures) with a lid & name label - I would say differently. If so, the hospital would prob take responsibility.
This is unfortunate, but I would call it an *accident*.
Like the people who wrap their dentures, glasses, hearing aides in serviettes & then leave on their dinner tray. To the industrial kitchen bin they go.
Hopefully some sort of insurance will cover the replacement cost?
If it looked soiled even if it wasn't how would anyone know.
And how would anyone know that there were hearing aids in the glove.
So if you are looking at pointing fingers and putting blame someplace I would say first mistake was putting the hearing aid in a medical glove.
second mistake was putting it in his room and not in a secure location.
third probably was asking that the room be cleaned.
The facility is not at fault. And I am sure that they say so in their resident handbook.
And even if you did not put them in the glove you left them in an unsecured area and any resident would have walked off with them.
Probably not the answer you were looking for.
And this would be anywhere not just Illinois
I know you are not going to like this but, I think you are responsible.
Putting them in a glove, then leaving it out seems like a recipe for disaster.