Becker's Hospital Review

34 CMO / CARE DELIVERY COVID-19 infection control failures at Pennsylvania facility put 128 residents in immediate jeopardy By Gabrielle Masson C onditions at Spring City, Pa.-based Southeastern Veterans' Center placed 128 of 154 residents in immediate jeopardy, a June inspection found, e Wash- ington Post reported July 21. For several months, administration at the nursing home didn't have safety plans for managing sick patients, conducting contact tracing or protecting residents from infec- tion, according to a 92-page report by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. "We weren't allowed to wear PPE, or we would get written up," a staff member told an inspector, according to the report. "We were told it would scare the residents." Workers exposed to COVID-19 were placed on units with healthy residents, and a nurs- ing aide came back to work two days aer she tested positive for COVID-19, the inspec- tion found. e report also details a lack of hand-washing and a failure to clean equip- ment and enforce social distancing. e report tied many of the issues to the home's former commandant and the director of nursing. Both were suspended in May. Hydroxychloroquine was given to numer- ous patients, though the new report does not mention the use of the anti-malaria medi- cation, according to the Post. It's unknown whether the drug contributed to any fatal- ities at the facility, which has recorded 42 COVID-19 deaths. A spokesperson for the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which operates Southeastern, said the department has submit- ted a request to dispute the report findings. A temporary outside management team has been hired to help until staff recover to normal operations, Department of Military and Vet- erans Affairs communications director Joan Zlogar Nissley wrote in an email to the Post. e facility had filed a plan of correction as of July 21. At the time of publication, it was unknown if the home would face fines or other penalties. n Former VA nursing aide pleads guilty to 7 murder charges By Alia Paavola A former nursing aide at a Veterans Af- fairs hospital in West Virginia pleaded guilty July 14 to seven counts of sec- ond-degree murder and one count of assault with the intent to commit murder, the U.S. Justice Department said. Reta Mays, 46, admitted to killing seven pa- tients by injecting them with lethal doses of insulin, causing their blood sugar to drop to dangerously low levels. The patients died of hypoglycemia. Ms. Mays also admitted to injecting insulin into an eighth patient, who didn't die. Ms. Mays worked at the Louis A. Johnson Vet- erans Affairs Medical Center in Clarksburg during the night shift from 2015 to 2018 in a ward that housed many diabetic patients. But nursing aides are not authorized to adminis- ter medications, including insulin, to patients at the VA hospital, prosecutors said. Ms. Mays faces up to life in prison for each count of second-degree murder and up to 20 years in prision for the assault with the intent to commit murder, the Justice Department said. n Geisinger settles lawsuit over NICU infections that killed 3 infants By Ayla Ellison D anville, Pa.-based Geisinger reached a settlement with the fami- lies of infants who died or were injured as a result of contracting bacterial infections while in the neonatal intensive care unit at Geisinger Medical Center, according to the Times Leader. Pseudomonas bacteria killed three infants and sickened five others in the hospital's NICU last year. The bacteria was traced to equipment used to measure donor breast milk. The families of the babies sued Geisinger in fall 2019, and lawyers rep- resenting the families announced July 15 that a settlement had been reached. Though the exact terms of the settlement are not publicly available, lawyers said the settlement includes monetary compensation and the health system accepting responsibility for the deaths, according to the report. "In addition to the monetary compensation, the families through this litigation achieved something extraordinary, which is that a major health system has admitted what happened and accepted full responsibility," Matt Casey, a lawyer representing the families, told the Times Leader. Regarding the settlement, Geisinger President and CEO Jaewon Ryu, MD, issued the following statement to the Times Leader: "Geisinger recognizes Mr. Casey's advocacy on behalf of these families and we apologize to each of the families involved," he said. "The loss of a child is tragic, and this settlement can never replace these young chil- dren, however we believe we have taken the steps necessary to prevent future infections and spare other families from this loss." n

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