A Minnesota hospital apologized today, April 17, for mishandling a stillborn baby who was found in linens that had been sent to an off-site laundromat according to the Associated Press.
A spokesperson for Regions Hospital in St. Paul stated that remains had been wrapped in linens in the hospital morgue and somehow were mistaken for laundry that was supposed to be cleaned.
The body was found by a laundry service employee according to the Associated Press.
"This was a terrible mistake, and we are deeply sorry," Chris Boese, the hospital's chief nursing officer, said in a press statement. "We have processes in place that should have prevented this but did not. We are working to identify the gap in our system, and to make sure this does not happen again."
Boese also confirmed that hospital officials are investigating what went wrong in the handling of the stillborn body, and have attempted to contact the child's family.
The baby was stillborn on April 4, at just 22 weeks of development according to the hospital.
"We are really sorry and saddened that this event happened," Boese said according to the Associated Press. "This has never happened before that I am aware of, this unfortunate event."
Regions Hospital is one of the largest in Minnesota, and handles approximately 2,500 births every year according to the Associated Press. Around 20 to 25 babies are stillborn, and the families of the infants are given a choice of making their "own arrangements" or allowing the hospital to work with community groups that take care of the burial or cremation according to Boese.
Privacy laws prevented Boese from discussing what the family's preference was at a press conference held by the hospital.
The hospital has reached out and offered support and counseling to employees of the laundry service, as well as to any hospital workers who were involved in the incident.
"That's our No. 1 concern, our patients, our family," Boese said according to the Associated Press. "We're deeply saddened and troubled that this happened and want to make sure that it never happens again."
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