Birds Safe in Hospitals?

This might be a silly question-- but I need to quadruple check. I'd like to take my conure to visit my grandparents in their care home which is the exact same as a hospital, saved for the type of care given.

Is there anything I should worry about for my bird's safety? Is there anything in the air that might be bad for him? The only thing I know for sure is there is central air conditioning, and it's not that cold at all. I mainly am concerned since birds' respiratory systems are so much more fragile..

My grandparents are in their late 90s. I really want them to be able to meet my parrot son and spend time with them, it'd mean so, so, so, so much to them & me if we can make this work. Sorry again if this is a silly question!! I'm constantly so worried about his safety as a newer mom o|-< Any advice at all about birds or hospitals would be so wonderful;;; Thank you..

Care homes for the elderly are usually kept pretty sterile so I would be worried about cleaning chemicals but have you talked to the care home to see if it's even okay with them if you bring the bird? birds aren't sterile and the elderly are very prone to illness. Birds definitely would NOT be allowed into a typical medical hospital. (I work at a hospital and went through TONS of paperwork just to bring my service dog and even then I am barred from specific areas of the hospital)

Agreed with Owlet above, you definitely want to make sure you check with the hospital first before just bringing your bird with you. Get permission first!

How are you planning to bring him? In a carrier, on a harness? Take any safety precautions you can. On a harness would be safest so you won't have to worry about him flying and getting away from you.

I take our DYH Amazon (Julio) to visit his Grandmother on a regular bases. Also about once per quarter Julio and I provide a small meet and greet entertainment for those in the area where my mother stays.

As stated above getting approval from the head of the staff is very important. They may have times when for any number of reasons bring pets is not allowed.

Julio's visits has always brought a smile to my mother's face. Good for you to remember your grandparents by bring your flock with you.

I would imagine the room would be safe for a parrot with the possible exception of treatments they may routinely receive that involve aerosols such as breathing therapies. Teflon heated to high temperature is a killer, though I can't think of any specialized equipment routinely used that may be suspect.

Animals are a wonderful addition to a visit, many facilities have routine therapy dogs/cats to brighten spirits. As others suggest, inquire and obtain permission!

I'd think that the bird would be more of a danger to the residents in the home than vice/versa. As long as they don't use any really harsh cleaning chemicals that leave lingering fumes, there shouldn't be any danger to your bird, as long as you secure him in a carrier or on a harness, and shut the room door when you get him out of the carrier. Again, it has to be okay with the home staff, which usually it is, but you always want to check first. Other than that, it's a great idea. My mom's pug used to be a part of a program where they went around once a week with her and she spent time with all of the elderly residents in a place in my hometown (she actually had her photo on the front of the brochure for the program, lol)...Those people just lit-up the minute she came in, and Rudy loved the attention. Animals do so much for a person's overall health and spirit...

EDIT: I totally messed up the first sentence of this, lol...I meant to say that "The residents of the home would be more of a danger to the bird than vice-versa"...Sorry. I hadn't had enough coffee yesterday morning.

Use common sense and call ahead. Keep an eye on your bird, and if you see any odd beahvior, excuse yourself and remove the bird from the environment. I have taken my parrot to schools before, and she has been fine (but I too was concerned a bit due to mold and chemicals and all that jazz). There are toxic things all over the place (especially in a hospital), but I think you/he/she will be fine as long as the room that you are in doesn't smell heavily of disinfectant etc....Just my best guess. If you don't smell anything strong, then that is at least somewhat reassuring (although not 100% safe when considering things like Teflon etc).

I also was thinking bird-> human pathogens.
Has your bird been tested for psittacosis? (cloaca-swab and culture)

(a lots of birds are carier and do not suffer one bit- but in susceptible humans
: old people & children in particulair, it can bring on a serious respiratory infection and kill them (worst case scenario)
- just saying because one of my friends came down with it after visiting a birdmarket with me-- and he had not touched a single bird or cage! He is an healthy athlete, and still... )

What a lovely idea. Just do all the safety checks outlined above and check with the home before you go, some residents might be allergic and the staff might need time to gather this info as it's unlikely to have been reported in the same way as other allergies e.g. food and medication, but it sounds like a fantastic idea.

Don't be surprised if it takes you ages to get in and out with staff and other residents wanting to say hello to your fid!

I totally messed up the very first sentence of my post, and it makes the rest of it make no sense at all...Not enough coffee...

What I was trying to say was that the humans are more of a danger to the bird than the bird to the humans...somehow I totally flipped that statement. Sorry about that, it makes the rest of my post a total bunch of gibberish.

Anyway, the point of my post was supposed to be that animals visiting the elderly and the sick in residence homes is a great idea, and very healing for the residents in the home. And usually they actually encourage it, if it's a place that knows what they're doing, as they know how good animals are for the souls of the residents, some of which don't ever get any visitors at all from family or friends. Like I mentioned, the hospital in my hometown (no longer exists), which was quite a large, state-run hospital at the time, had a wing that was just long-term residents, and it was connected to a local residence-home, where the elderly patients who were in this hospital wing long-term would go after they were stable and no longer in any emergent health danger. And they actually had a program, I forget what it was called, but it was animals being brought into the actual hospital wing and into the home every week, and on different days depending on the animal.

My grandmother and my grandfather (married for 65 years, god love), had just had to give-up their house of like 50+ years where my mom and uncle grew-up, and my grandfather handed over his car keys; he was developing Alzheimer's, and my grandmother, though mentally fine, couldn't walk at all and could hardly move due to spinal stenosis. They were so depressed, especially my grandmother, about losing their house, their car, their independence...I mean, they were both in their late 80's when they were basically forced to sell their house of over 50 years and move into a home...At least they were able to stay together, but first they had to go to the hospital (where my grandmother had worked for over 40 years as a lab tech) and stay in the long-term care wing for a good 3 months while waiting for a double room in the home to open-up. My grandmother was just miserable, my mom and uncle went every single day to visit her, and she always asked about Rudy, my pug. She loved that dog, she loved all animals, and had bred Budgies for decades. And my mom asked the nurse about bringing Rudy in to see them, and the nurse told her about the animal program. So Rudy became a part of the program. I was in high-school at this time, so after school I would drive Rudy out to visit everyone on the floor, and then she would spend a long time with my grandparents...Man did those people just light right up when Rudy walked into their room! Not one person ever didn't want to see her, they cuddled her and hugged her and played with her, and it was the highlight of their week. We started bringing her whenever we went, and the staff encouraged it because it improved the residents overall, in every way.