Hospital goofs over patient's 'death'
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 | 8:18 PM CT
CBC News
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A woman treated for allergies at a Winnipeg hospital says she was shocked to receive a card from hospital staff days later consoling her family over her death.
Rhonda Robertson was treated for hives and released from Concordia Hospital in early September.
But Monday, she received a sympathy card from hospital staff addressed to "the family of Rhonda Robertson." She said it took a few minutes before realizing what the card was implying.
"And that's when it kind of disturbed me to think that I died," Robertson said. "It's an eerie feeling inside."
Robertson said she contacted the hospital's chaplain to find out what happened and was told she was accidentally listed as deceased.
The hospital told CBC News that when patients are discharged, there's an electronic form for marking them either "discharged" or "deceased."
The wrong checkmark was made, and the error was not caught in a review of "deceased" forms.
The hospital's chaplain has apologized, Robertson said.
He told her it's been a decade since a similar mistake was made.
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