McLaren Flint (Mich.) hospital continues to refuse requests from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to supply the department with additional evidence the hospital has made sufficient efforts to reduce the possibility of Legionella exposure at the facility, according to MLive.
The disagreement is rooted in an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that occurred in Flint amid the city's water crisis that began in 2014 when Genesee County switched its main water source to the Flint River. The state health department contends the hospital's handling of the water is what caused the outbreak, while the McLaren Flint argues the water supplied to the hospital was contaminated.
Here are five things to know.
1. From 2014 to 2015, 91 cases of Legionnaires' disease were reported in Genesee County. According to MDHHS, McLaren Flint Hospital was associated with 21 Legionnaires' cases in 2014, 29 cases in 2015 and two cases in 2016. The health department also says the hospital was associated with 45 of 46 inpatient healthcare-associated Legionnaires' disease cases in the county.
2. In February, Nick Lyon, the director of the state health department, issued an order to McLaren Flint under the Public Health Code for the hospital to take actions to correct conditions at the facility to reduce the risk of future exposure to Legionella.
3. On March 10, Chad Grant, president and CEO of McLaren Flint, sent a letter to Mr. Lyon with information requested by the state and affidavits from experts citing the Flint water system as the source of the Legionnaires' outbreak. Mr. Lyon responded with a letter citing a report from the CDC that identifies the hospital as the likely source for the outbreak, according to MLive.
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4. The health department director argues the hospital should provide the health department with more detailed water testing documents and permit the state to hire an independent water monitoring expert the hospital would then pay for.
"While I and MDHHS welcome the opportunity for staff to meet and discuss these issues with McLaren Flint staff, the time for merely exchanging correspondence is at an end," said Mr. Lyon, according to a report from Crain's Detroit Business published Thursday.
5. Mr. Grant continues to refuses to comply with the state orders, arguing the hospital already adheres to industry best practices for water quality management.
"We have already provided MDHHS with the documents and information that have been requested, including more than sufficient data to understand that McLaren Flint's water systems are both effective and compliant," Mr. Grant said in his statement to Crain's Detroit Business. "Though Mr. Lyon states it is not the intention of MDHHS to single out our hospital, the agency's conduct and communications suggest otherwise. MDHHS has maintained a narrow, if not exclusive, focus on McLaren Flint when it comes to legionella in our community."
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