Missing ring not KGH's fault

Photo: File photo

Kelowna General Hospital

A $38,000 ring may be sitting somewhere in the Glenmore landfill.

A BC Supreme Court judge has ruled Interior Health and a nurse at Kelowna General Hospital are not responsible for replacing Patricia Chrichton's lost ring.

The diamond ring, which had belonged to Chrichton's father before she inherited it, went missing in February 2017, after she was admitted to the hospital for hip replacement surgery.

On Feb. 9, the day before her surgery, Chrichton's nurse, Krystal Goertz, told her she would not be able to wear the ring during surgery, and put her several pieces of jewelry in an envelope.

On a form, which Chrichton signed, Goertz recorded the following: “Earrings, yellow gold (with) diamonds Wittnauer yellow gold watch yellow gold ring (with) 9 diamonds.”

In her suit against Interior Health and Goertz, Chrichton claims she had given two rings to Goertz, and the missing ring in question was never recorded on the form. She claimed she didn't have her glasses at the time, and was unable to read the form when she signed it.

Chrichton discovered her ring was missing on Feb. 12, following the surgery. She said she “checked everywhere for the ring,” notified RCMP and posted a notice on the KGH bulletin board offering a $1,000 reward.

The ring has never been found.

In his ruling, Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson said: "The ring in issue was clearly precious to the plaintiff even beyond its monetary value,” but found no evidence to support Chrichton's claims, believing her version of events “is based upon a reconstruction by her of what she believes must have occurred, rather than upon a memory of that interaction.”

“The ring must either have been taken by someone other than Ms. Goertz, or have fallen off the plaintiff’s finger and been unwittingly disposed of with either the laundry or the garbage taken from her room,” Chief Justice Hinkson concluded.