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Editor's note: Do you have a family member in the pediatric unit at the Wanaque Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, or do you have information about the viral epidemic? NJ.com would like to hear from you. You can reach us at (732) 902-4559 or write to Susan Livio at [email protected], Spencer Kent at [email protected] or Ted Sherman at [email protected].
Dissatisfied with efforts to fight a seven-week viral outbreak in a retirement home, the state's health department on Wednesday ordered the owners to hire two other medical experts and suspend all admissions.
The Wanaque Haskell Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is not allowed to admit new patients, regardless of their age. A new order last month temporarily halted the admission of new pediatric patients, according to a ministry statement.
According to the Department of Health, 125 adults and 62 children are currently accommodated in this facility of 227 beds.
Why did it take the state so long to inspect a facility where a deadly epidemic killed 10 children?
Ten children died and 23 other pediatric patients were tested positive for adenovirus, a disease acquired at the hospital. Ten children died. The department confirmed four new cases over the weekend.
The facility, which belongs to Continuum Healthcare, an operator of for-profit home care centers, must also hire a "certified infection control practitioner" and outsource the services of a "physician or of a doctor's office possessing a certificate in infectious diseases, "according to the announcement. .
"This enforcement action will require that the facility be able to safely separate medically-frail children before accepting new admissions to the respiratory unit," said the commissioner. Health, Shereef Elnahal, in a statement. "The fact that we continue to see new cases confirmed at this stage, despite all the efforts made to scrupulously respect the protocols, has clearly shown the limits of the establishment's establishment. to ensure patient safety in the future. "
Pediatrician Maged Ghaly, who works for Wanaque, has been the "point of contact" for the department since the beginning of the epidemic. "But the fact that he or she is the doctor who treats all pediatric residents of the respiratory unit is not a departmental information," said the spokesperson of the department. State, Donna Dit Leusner.
Ghaly did not answer a call asking for comments.
Wanaque must demonstrate that he follows state guidance by separating uninfected patients from the child's respiratory unit from those who are treated for the virus, the department said.
The State Senate Health Committee holds a hearing on the Wanaque outbreak on December 3rd.
Continuum did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Susan K. Livio can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
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