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Concerns shared after local hospital loses access to hot water

By Arriyonna Allen

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    PADUCAH (WPSD) — After what they say has been weeks without hot water, patients of Mercy Health – Lourdes Hospital are coming forward to share their concerns.

Last week, the hospital sent a statement saying the issues were resolved — but on Monday, representatives sent another statement saying the opposite.

The new statement reads:

“Mercy Health – Lourdes Hospital is currently experiencing intermittent hot water shortages due to ongoing renovations within the hospital. Our teams are actively collaborating with building engineers to identify the root causes of these outages and to implement effective solutions as quickly and efficiently as possible.

We recognize that some patients have experienced disruptions in hot water availability. Please be assured that our dedicated staff is diligently working to accommodate the needs of affected patients by ensuring that hot water is provided in their rooms whenever possible. In instances where immediate access to hot water is unavailable, patients are being escorted to other areas on their current floor to meet bathing needs.

It is important to note that while these outages are impacting several areas of the hospital, no critical response areas are affected. The safety, comfort, and well-being of our patients continue to be our top priorities, and we are committed to resolving this matter promptly.”

Despite listing patient comfortability as a top priority, many family members of patients have come forward saying their loved ones are anything but comfortable.

Amanda’s father was receiving care from Mercy for two weeks. Fearful of backlash from sharing her story, she asked that her last name not be made public. She explained that for the two weeks her father was at Mercy, he did not have a traditional shower. Instead of a hot shower, he was given bed baths upon request with hot water from a coffee maker.

“He was desperate to have a shower. You know, when you’re in the hospital for that long, sometimes just having the water run over you, there’s nothing better… He’s in his 80s, so there’s not a whole lot that he can do on his own, he wasn’t up and mobile so it’s not something he could easily wash up on his own. So he had to rely on them to do it for him. So yeah, definitely was a bit humiliating, to say the least,” said Amanda.

She went on to share that they did not receive any straight answers as to what was going on with the water. She made clear that she was not upset with her father’s doctors or nurses, but instead with the hospitals higher ups.

“Just be honest. I mean, if you did something wrong, obviously it has something to do with some kind of construction or or something. If you didn’t pay a contractor, or whatever it is, make it right, get it done, and take care of your patients the way they deserve to be taken care of,” said Amanda.

Also coming forward is a Mercy employee. Sharing the same concerns for patients and their safety, that employee confirmed Amanda’s story of coffee maker bed baths. Outside of patient’s safety, Amanda also questioned physician’s hygiene. Without the ability to wash their hands in warm or hot water, she wondered how they were safely taking care of patients.

In that statement from said, “In instances where immediate access to hot water is unavailable, patients are being escorted to other areas on their current floor to meet bathing needs,” but this statement is contradictory to Amanda’s claims of coffee maker bed baths.

A reporter tried to reach out to the hospital’s media liaison to get further clarification, but did not receive a response.

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