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Family launches search for man Sinai-Grace says was discharged, only to find out he died at hospital

By and Amber Ainsworth
Published  February 7, 2022 6:15pm EST
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 2 Detroit

Family finds out man died at hospital after being told he was discharged

A family was searching for their missing loved one after they were told he was discharged from Sinai-Grace in Detroit. He was actually dead.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - On Sunday morning, Melvin Richard Field's daughter called Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit to check up on her father.

She couldn't visit due to COVID-19 restrictions, so a call had to do. However, the family was sent into panic when they were told he had been discharged Friday.

"They said that he was no longer a patient and that he’d been released on the fourth," said daughter Renee Prevost. 

Prevost said Field, 75, had progressive dementia and only had the clothes on his back, so the family launched an extensive search. That searched ended Monday when the family found out Field had actually died on Friday.

Melvin Field

Prevost said the hospital kept telling her that her father had been discharged. She even filed a missing person report with Detroit police before learning he was dead.

"I just want them to be held responsible. I want them to know what they did was completely wrong," Prevost said.

FOX 2 contacted the Detroit Medical Center for comment, and received the following response:

"Mr. Field passed away at Sinai-Grace Hospital on February 4 and our staff made numerous attempts to reach out to the family but were unsuccessful. We have since been in communication with the family and offer our deepest sympathies for their loss."

-Jason Barczy
Spokesperson, DMC