Subcommittee Examines Legionnaire’s Disease Outbreak at Pittsburgh VA
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held a hearing to review the multiple cases of Legionnaire’s Disease at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Pittsburgh Healthcare System. The hearing examined VA’s efforts to prevent such an outbreak, outreach efforts, and what actions were taken after learning of contaminated water at the facility.
“A lot of information about this disturbing outbreak and its response was brought to light during this hearing today, and I appreciate that members of the committee conducted a fact-based examination of this critical issue,” said Rep. Mike Michaud (ME-02), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “Moving forward, it’s clear that VA needs to diligently ensure that all its facilities are properly prepared, employees are trained, and that the prevention programs in place are effective. I’d like to thank Ranking Member Kirkpatrick for her leadership on this issue, and I know she’ll help lead future, bipartisan investigations that will help us improve the care and benefits our veterans have earned.”
During the course of a collaborative review by VA Pittsburgh and the CDC, a total of 29 cases of veterans with Legionella pneumonia were identified from January 2011 to December 6, 2012. Eight of those cases were determined to be community-acquired, meaning that they contracted the infection outside of the hospital. Sixteen cases were determined to be probable hospital acquired infections, which means that they may have contracted the disease in the hospital but a definitive determination cannot be made. Five cases were confirmed to have originated in the hospital. Of the 21 cases that were probable (16) or confirmed as hospital acquired (5) CDC reported that five patients died within 30 days of a positive test.
“We owe a great deal to our veterans, but especially quality health care,” said Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-01), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. “Because of this unfortunate outbreak in a VA medical facility, we are now taking a hard look at policies and protocols that should have helped these facilities prevent Legionella. Today’s hearing provided a better understanding of where failures occurred and how we can fix them.”
On December 20, 2012, at the request of several members of Congress, including Ranking Member Michaud, the VA Office of Inspector General (VAOIG) initiated a national review of Legionnaire’s Disease at Veterans Health Administration Facilities. The review will determine what steps have been taken by VHA medical facilities to mitigate the risk of Legionella infection and comply with VA and CDC guidelines. Recommendations will be made to VA if needed. That review is expected to be completed in March 2013.
A photo from today’s hearing of Ranking Member Kirkpatrick and Chairman Mike Coffman (CO-06) is attached.
Next Article Previous Article