CINCINNATI — The remains of a newborn infant were lost at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, leading to an unsuccessful search at a landfill and an apology from the hospital, officials said.
The leader of the UC Health system offered the apology but no details in a statement that calls what happened an ‘‘unacceptable situation.’’
‘‘I promise the family that we will never let a situation like this happen again,’’ chief executive Richard Lofgren said. ‘‘I and the entire executive team of UC Health are examining every fact, every process, and every action to identify precisely how this could possibly happen. We have already begun to put in place steps to ensure that this kind of tragic human error cannot occur again.’’
A girl who was delivered prematurely on Sept. 14 was stillborn, and her twin brother lived for only an hour, WKRC-TV reported. Police said it’s not clear exactly what happened to the boy’s body, but it didn’t make it to the hospital morgue and couldn’t be found later, the station said.
Police told WKRC that when the family was making arrangements for handling the remains, the hospital located the body of only one child.
The boy’s remains also weren’t found when a landfill was searched last weekend. A contractor hired by the hospital searched areas of the landfill where the hospital’s waste was dumped, as well as trash from a laundry contractor, WKRC-TV reported.
A hospital spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking more information Tuesday.