Becker's Hospital Review

171 FINANCE CMO / CARE DELIVERY DC Health Officials Investigate Sewage Leak in ORs at MedStar Washington Hospital Center By Mackenzie Bean T he D.C. Department of Health is inves- tigating a complaint of sewage leaks in operating rooms at MedStar Washington (D.C.) Hospital Center, reports USA Today. One such OR was used to perform surgery on Rep. Steve Scalise, R- La., aer he was shot in June at a congressional baseball practice. Mr. Scalise contracted an infection while being treated at Washington Hospital Center, which prompted greater awareness of the hospital's low safety ratings. David Mayer, MD, MedStar's vice president of safety and quality, said it is improper to asso- ciate someone shot with a "dirty bullet from a dirty gun on a dirty ball field" with a hospital's overall infection issues, according to an inter- nal memo sent to staff and cited by USA Today. e sewage leaks posed numerous infection control issues, according to former and cur- rent Washington Hospital Center employees USA Today interviewed. The hospital closed the OR two days after Mr. Scalise's surgery for sterilization due to the sewage leaks. One physician told USA Today he saw liquid stool mixed in with sewage on the floor in the same OR, which he said suggested the leak had been occurring for some time. The physician also said clinicians performed a surgical procedure in a neighboring OR five feet away from the leak. Other employees described clinicians walk- ing between the sewage-soaked ORs, surgical instrument storage areas and the hallways in the same protective foot coverings. e hospital also allegedly used buckets to catch water leaks from ceilings — the same ones sewage leaked through — at least two times during surgeries. Employees claimed portable fans were used to get rid of a strong "porta potty" odor in the leaking ORs, which may be troublesome as fans can spread bacteria in the air, the report notes. "[O]ur team addressed recent leaks at the hospital immediately, following our robust protocols. e areas were cleaned, sterilized and inspected by an outside industrial hy- gienist to ensure that they were safe for pa- tient care," MedStar Washington Hospital said in a statement to Becker's. "e portrayal of our hospital in the recent USA Today article was riddled with inaccuracies and unfounded conclusions. Our patients were never put at risk due to recent leaks in our operating room area. We are committed to the highest qual- ity, safest care for every patient who comes through our doors and have an intensive pro- gram in place to quickly identify and correct problems." D.C. health department spokeswoman Jas- mine Gossett told USA Today the department will decide whether Washington Hospital Center is subject to a penalty upon complet- ing a full investigation of the sewage leaks. n Frequent Disinfectant Use Among Nurses Linked to Increase in Risk of Developing COPD By Anuja Vaidya N urses who regularly use disinfectants are at a higher risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to new research presented at the European Respiratory Society's International Congress. Researchers analyzed data from 55,185 female registered nurses. The nurses are enrolled in the U.S. Nurses' Health Study II, which started in 1989. In 2009, they began follow- ing nurses with no history of COPD. They continued fol- lowing the nurses until May 2017. Of the nurses included in the study population, 37 percent used disinfectants to clean surfaces on a weekly basis and 19 percent used dis- infectants to clean medical instruments every week. Over the study period, 663 nurses were diagnosed with COPD. Researchers assessed the nurses' exposure to dis- infectants via a questionnaire and a matrix. The observational study shows regular exposure to specif- ic chemicals in disinfectants — at least once a week — was associated with a 22 percent to 32 percent increase in de- veloping COPD. Specifically, exposure to glutaraldehyde, bleach, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol and quaternary ammonium compounds were all associated with a 24 percent to 32 percent in- crease in risk of COPD. n "Our patients were never put at risk due to recent leaks in our operating room area. We are committed to the highest quality, safest care for every patient who comes through our doors." — Statement from MedStar Washington Hospital

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