VERNON – A Vernon woman’s grief is being compounded by a loss of trust. After the death of her father, she was told that his wedding ring, put in safe keeping by Kelowna General Hospital (KGH), had been stolen.
While he was being treated at KGH her father’s hand became swollen and his wedding ring needed to be removed. Andrea Sanzana says the ring was locked in a box at a nurse’s station for safe keeping. However, after he passed away they didn’t get the ring back. Sanzana says she was eventually told the ring had been stolen. She says it has been hard to get straight answers.
“We are still going around the mountain because nobody has come to a solution,” she says.
Sanzana is now wondering whether anyone else has had property stolen from the hospital.
“I’m just hoping that their policies change and that when people are going to the hospital that it is a safe place and they don’t get their things stolen.”
No one from the Interior Health Authority was available for an interview but they did provide a written statement. In it the health authority apologizes to the family and says it has launched its own internal investigation.
“It is of very little consolation, but IH has offered to compensate the Bonkes family for the ring.”
The health authority says it is also changing the way patient valuables are stored.
Interior Health Authority Statement
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