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The state health department sent teams of inspectors to the Newark University Hospital after an "anonymous" employee concerned reported a bacterial outbreak in the US. Neonatal intensive care unit at the Newark facility, confirmed Friday the Health Commissioner, Shereef Elnahal.
Four infants contracted the bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii, an infection contracted at the hospital in September. One of the babies was transferred to another hospital and died later, but the cause of death has not yet been determined, said Elnahal.
The other three infants responded to treatment and no cases of infection have been reported for three weeks, said University Hospital Medical Director Larry Ramunno.
In response to the October 1 council, investigators found many failures in infection control, including hand washing, wearing gloves, and keeping surfaces clean and disinfected, Elnahal said.
Major deficiencies discovered at the University Hospital after the death of baby
Elnahal said he found "troubling" hospital officials not to have reported the outbreak, defined as a number of cases exceeding the norm for a health facility.
"But the most troubling problem is the lack of infection control standards in this intensive care unit, which my investigators found was unacceptable," he said.
The hospital must hire a full-time accredited infection control consultant no later than Tuesday, in accordance with the Correctional Plan ordered by the Department of Health.
The only state public hospital – also the largest provider of "charity care" for uninsured patients – the university has been the subject of close scrutiny this year. The hospital was unsuccessful by the Leapfrog group's national safety bulletin, which had poor results in the areas of infection control.
This poor rating is one of the reasons the state commissioned Judith M. Persichilli, former executive director of the national hospital chain, Catholic Healthcare East, to monitor and evaluate the financial stability and quality of the 'hospital.
Persichilli and Ramunno said Friday that a concerted effort was underway for handwashing and other infection control strategies to be second nature among the 3,600 employees in the country. ;University.
"Since my arrival in mid-June, everything has focused on behavioral change, will and culture," said Ramunno, recruited at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Johns Hopkins, Washington DC. "We're starting to see movements, but we have to keep pushing it. "
The changes currently being sought by the state were already underway, said Ramunno.
"We are working on everything on the state list, has everything been implemented, no, but we will use it as a stimulus to accelerate the changes that must occur", a- he declared.
Rumanno has the confidence of Linda Schwimmer, President and CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, a research and advocacy organization that promotes the Leapfrog Security Group.
Schwimmer called the epidemic "heartbreaking" and demonstrates "the human burden of not taking the safety and control of infections as seriously as necessary, and the reason we need to be vigilant". She said that she met Ramunno and "I had the impression that he understood the seriousness of the situation and the huge task that awaited him."
According to medical experts, the infection does not pose a threat to other hospitalized patients or in the community. It is found almost exclusively in hospital intensive care units and poses a risk only for the most immunocompromised patients, said Margaret Fisher, an infectious disease specialist, member of the Advisory Council on Disaster Preparedness. American Academy of Pediatrics.
Acinetobacter baumannii "is not usually the cause of death, but a contributor," Fisher said. "These babies are so fragile and need so much technology that they're about to survive, this (infection) makes them rock."
According to Elnahal, there are other children at the NICU, but it is not planned to transfer them to another hospital. "Any transport poses a risk for patients who are so seriously ill" and could spread the infection to another hospital, he said.
The epidemic at the University Hospital is unrelated to the 23 confirmed cases of adenovirus among children residing at the Wanaque Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Haskell. Eight children have died, according to the health department.
Susan K. Livio can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
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