After a patient complained of bedbugs in her hospital bed at Midland (Texas) Memorial Hospital, MMH moved the patient, sealed off the room and brought in an exterminator, according to a Midland Reporter-Telegram report.
The patient had been admitted to the hospital from the emergency department and told the MRT that she complained of bugs in her bed for four days before hospital housekeeping examined the bed. The housekeeping professional confirmed the presence of bugs, then thought to be bedbugs.
After the bugs were found by hospital staff, the patient was moved and the hospital called Terminix to exterminate the problem. Terminix found that the bugs were not bedbugs as originally thought, but were fleas.
MMH officials believe this is an isolated incident.
"Due to the extensive cleaning protocols we follow and the isolation of these incidents, we believe these types of pests are typically brought in by our guests and visitors," Marcy Madrid, vice president of planning and marketing for MMH, told MRT in a statement.