Woman photographs mice in Foothills hospital cafeteria; AHS investigating

Julie Denhamer captured photos of the mice and several droppings they left behind.

A Calgary woman is raising concerns after she spotted several mice in a cafeteria at the Foothills hospital.

Julie Denhamer was visiting a patient on Friday and saw the mice in the special services building café.

She captured photos of the mice and several droppings they left behind.

She says she let café staff members know about the mice, but they did not appear to take her concerns seriously.

Denhamer says she expects food services in the hospital to follow the same standard, and face the same health inspection consequences, as other restaurants.

"It makes one wonder – if the front-of-house, public spaces are kept like this, full of mice – (what about) the spaces that the patients or the visitors do not see?" said Denhamer.

In a written statement, Alberta Health Services tells CTV News it does not have a complaint on file about the mice sighting but its pest control contractor is following up and any necessary remediation will be taken.

AHS says the Foothills Medical Centre works with a third-party professional pest control operator to conduct routine inspections of any pest activity at the site.

It encourages anyone with concerns like this to contact its environmental public health team directly.