Englewood (N.J.) Hospital and Medical Center is providing lead tests to its workers, patients and visitors who entered the hospital since September 2015 after tests revealed high levels of lead in the hospital's drinking water, The Record reports.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection contacted Englewood Hospital last week and notified the facility about the elevated lead levels.
The action level for lead in drinking water set by the federal government is 15 parts per billion. The hospital told The Record Wednesday the highest level recorded at the hospital's campus was 1,206 parts per billion. The highest level was found in Englewood Hospital's physical therapy gym.
The hospital stopped using tap water after the DEP's notification and began using bottled water, shipments of tanked water and ice made outside of the hospital. Signs were posted above all sinks, faucets, ice machines and water fountains to alert hospital visitors of the issue, while faucets with high levels of lead were turned off, according to the report.