Darlene and Alfred Reed have been married for 63 years and are elated to have the chance to thank the co-workers who helped them find his ring.
Alfred Reed was thrilled to return to the comfort of his home after a multiple-day stay at Parkview Regional Medical Center (PRMC). However, hours later, he had a terrible realization: His wedding ring was missing.
He and his wife, Darlene, began scouring the house. They rummaged through his hospital clothes, searched the car and even checked the garbage for the discarded bag of fast food they’d picked up on the way home.
PRMC was the last place Alfred remembered having the ring on his finger. There, he’d told some caregivers the special story behind his wedding band. It was one that he and Darlene had purchased in St. Thomas during a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean.
The Reeds tried calling PRMC to see if anyone had located the ring, but after two unsuccessful attempts, they enlisted the help of their son, Greg Reed, SOS business operation analyst, Support Division Operational Performance team.
In September, Alfred and Greg enjoyed a trip of a lifetime to Washington, D.C, with Honor Flight Northeast Indiana. There, Alfred and other veterans visited memorials honoring their service and sacrifice. Alfred served eight years in the Air Force.
Greg called PRMC and reached a kind and helpful Parkview operator. He was given Public Safety’s direct number and then transferred to the 6 South nurses’ station, where Alfred had stayed.
The care team gladly checked their supervisor’s office and Alfred’s room but had no luck. The same held true when Greg contacted the Public Safety team, who oversee the lost and found.
Desperate to find the wedding band, his parents returned in person to PRMC, where they again interacted with Public Safety co-workers and 6 South nurses, hoping for any kind of lead. Still nothing.
At that point, Greg began to wonder if his dad could have lost his wedding ring while getting dressed for discharge. He’d lost a lot of weight, and when he scooted to the side of the bed to dress to go home, it could have easily slipped off.
Believing anything was possible, the nurses encouraged the couple to contact Environmental Services (EVS), who cleaned Alfred’s room and changed the sheets. While EVS had no wedding band, they did have the phone number for Hospital Laundry Service, Inc. (HLS), Parkview’s laundry partner. The Reeds called HLS and left their information.
Alfred began to lose hope and started talking about a replacement ring. But to his and the family’s astonishment, just a few days later, they got a call from HLS. In all of the sea of laundry at their facility – which averages over 70,000 pounds daily – HLS had located his wedding band! The couple was overjoyed.
To express his gratitude, Alfred wasted no time in dropping off a box of doughnuts to HLS. That was the easy part. What was hard was knowing how to thank the multitude of Parkview co-workers who were essential to each step of his search.
“Our co-workers went above and beyond to help my parents,” Greg said. “I, too, wanted to thank them for their great effort. What they may consider ‘just another day of excellent service’ was over the top for my parents.”
