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PLATTSBURGH, NY (WCAX) – The Champlain Valley Doctors Hospital in Plattsburgh has Legionella bacteria in its water systems. It is the pathogen that can cause Legionnaires’ disease, which can be fatal.
There is no case of legionellosis attributed to water to CVPH. The hospital says it has only treated three cases of Legionnaires in the past 15 months and these patients all had them upon admission.
But just to be sure, CVPH says that until the bacteria are eliminated, he doesn’t use tap water for showers, baths, drinking, or making ice.
“I understand it looks and sounds dramatic, but I really want to assure people that the levels that we are finding out there are very low,” said Dr Keith Collins, infectious disease specialist at CVPH.
CVPH says Legionella is a waterborne bacteria and is tested regularly in its water systems. They saw it go back to January 2020.
“It’s already there, it’s in all of our water systems. It just depends on what level they come back detected, ”said Brenda Murphy, director of quality care and safety at CVPH.
“Our levels in our system are extremely low and I doubt they pose a risk to anyone,” Collins said.
Bacteria like to live in hot, standing water and if they get into someone’s lungs they can be fatal.
“It’s not by consumption, it’s by inhalation, so it’s aerosolization,” Murphy said.
This is what happened in Burlington. In 1977, just a year after the bacteria was discovered, a major epidemic of Legionellosis broke out in what was then called the Medical Center Hospital. More than 50 people fell ill and 17 died.
The outbreak was attributed to the air conditioning system on the hospital campus.
CVPH says his water doesn’t make anyone sick.
“We just have our water tested positive for that, it’s a different situation than what Vermont saw a few years ago where they actually had an outbreak,” Collins said.
But they are now working to filter it because they found Legionella in 30% of their samples. It will take time, state resources and a lot of money to bring the levels down.
“I don’t want to go into detail on the cost, but it’s important,” said Christopher Booth of Patient Care Operations at CVPH.
The hospital purchases point-of-use filters that look and function the same as a Brita filter that you would use at home. The filter goes to the faucets and can be installed on the shower heads.
“As a way to mitigate or manage this and reduce the potential exposure to zero,” Booth said.
The hospital says there is no reason to worry and to cancel appointments or surgeries.
These filters are expected to arrive on Wednesday and be operational by next week, which would eliminate the need for bottled water.
The hospital will continue to test the water.
I registered with the Clinton County Health Department. The officials told me that there was no concern outside the hospital at the moment.
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