Becker's Hospital Review

37 FINANCE CMO / CARE DELIVERY 'Shut it down': Virginia hospital under investigation isn't safe, nurse says By Ayla Ellison A registered nurse who formerly worked at Cumberland Hospital for Children and Adolescents in New Kent, Va., is calling for it to be shut down aer she said she witnessed child abuse at the facility, according to an Oct. 6 CBS 6 report. e nurse, who asked not to be identified, re- signed from the hospital in July. "My soul will not allow me to continue employ- ment within a facility where children are know- ingly abused without appropriate action being taken," read the resignation letter the nurse sent to the hospital's CEO. "Under no circumstances is abuse against a patient, much less a special needs child, appropriate in any fashion!" e nurse said she reported an "abusive staff member" on several occasions, and no action was taken by hospital leaders. e nurse resigned about five months aer a CBS 6 investigation revealed the hospital had been at the center of a criminal investigation of allegations of child abuse and neglect since October 2017. "Shut it down, shut it down until they can re- vamp," the nurse told CBS 6 in response to a question about what action the state should take against the hospital. "I believe Cumberland can be a phenomenal facility. However, it is not there now. It's just not there. It's not safe." e CBS 6 investigation also found that from 2015 until February 2020, the Virginia Health Depart- ment said it received 31 complaints about the fa- cility, of which 18 were founded. "Cumberland Hospital for Children and Adoles- cents has been, and continues to be, in good stand- ing with our licensing and regulatory authorities," the hospital said in a statement to CBS 6 earlier this year. "We are surveyed regularly, and like many healthcare facilities, address any deficiencies that may be cited. Further, any complaint or allegation is taken seriously, investigated thoroughly and ad- dressed as appropriate." n Remdesivir cuts COVID-19 recovery time by 5 days, final study data says By Maia Anderson R emdesivir shortened COVID-19 patient recovery time by five days, according to final data from a phase 3 trial published Oct. 8 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The drug was tested in adults hospitalized with mild, moderate or severe COVID-19. It was shown to shorten recovery time by five days, an improvement over preliminary study results showing it shortened recovery by four days. The drug worked best in patients on supplemental oxygen, shortening their recovery time by seven days compared to those on a placebo. Patients taking remdesivir were 50 percent more likely to have im- proved by day 15 of their illness compared to those on a placebo, the data showed. "We now have data suggesting that giving remdesivir to patients on oxy- gen may significantly reduce their chances of death as compared to oth- er subgroups. These data provide clinicians with important information to help optimize patient care," said Andre Kalil, MD, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Gilead said the rate of serious adverse events was higher in the place- bo group than the remdesivir group. The trial studied a 10-day course of treatment and was conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. n COVID-19 antibodies last at least 5 months, study suggests By Mackenzie Bean C OVID-19 patients may produce antibodies for at least five months after initial infection, according to a study published Oct. 13 in the journal Immunity. Researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences in Tucson an- alyzed antibody production from 5,882 blood samples collected in Ar- izona's Pima County as part of a larger effort to create and validate a COVID-19 antibody test. Researchers found high-quality, neutralizing antibodies were still being produced five to seven months after a COVID-19 infection. "Whether antibodies provide lasting protection against SARS-CoV-2 has been one of the most difficult questions to answer," study co-author Mi- chael Dake, MD, senior vice president of UArizona Health Sciences, said in a news release emailed to Becker's. "This research not only has given us the ability to accurately test for antibodies against COVID-19, but also has armed us with the knowledge that lasting immunity is a reality." UArizona Health Sciences partnered with Arizona to launch a statewide testing initiative using the antibody test, which gained emergency use authorization in September. The blood samples collected in Pima County marked the first phase of the testing initiative. Researchers have since test- ed more than 30,000 people in Arizona. n

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