Family Hits Roadblocks Trying to Find Alfred Feinglass

By Charlene Shirk First Coast News

JACKSONVILLE, FL-- The family of missing man diagnosed with Alzheimer's says they hit roadblocks when calling some area hospitals.

Shortly after Alfred Feinglass went missing last week, his family started calling local hospitals. They suspected that due to his confusion, he might have been picked up and hospitalized.

They found that it wasn't as simple as a phone call. The Feinglass' son says when he called, he was told by some hospitals that due to medical privacy laws, like the newly implemented HIPPA law, that they could not tell him if his father was a patient there.

HIPPA Coordinator, Cynthia Aiello with Ten Brock Hospital says, "psychiatric facilities have rules they have to follow for... the confidentiality of patients."

The Jacksonville Sheriff's office says it has run into similar roadblocks when attempting to track down people who've been reported missing.

One way to go around this obstacle is to register your loved one with the Alzheimer's Safe Return program. Funded by the Federal Government, it is a national database that gives permission to hospitals and law enforcement agencies to notify care givers or family members. "When a person has registered in the program the HIPPA law is really not an issue," according the Northeast Florida's Alzheimer's Association's Executive Director Diantha Grant.

The Safe Return program supplies and I.D. bracelet for the person with memory loss and also one of their care givers. The care giver's bracelet notifies emergency personnel that there is a person at home who needs care. That safeguards the patient in case the care giver is hurt and can't communicate that there is someone at home who is dependent on them.

Alfred Feinglass has now been entered into the Safe Return program and all area hospitals are aware that he missing.

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