A patient from Lakewood, Wash.-based Western State Hospital — the largest psychiatric hospital in the state — was diagnosed with Legionnaires', according to an Associated Press report relayed by The Seattle Times.
The patient was transferred from the psychiatric hospital to an unnamed medical facility in Lakewood. Two additional patients from Western State are also receiving treatment for pneumonia. The hospitals treating these patients have been notified of the recent Legionnaires' diagnosis.
Legionnaires' disease is a type of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria. It is not spread by person-to-person contact or by drinking water, but can be contracted by inhaling mist from infected water sources such as plumbing systems and cooling towers.
Some Western State Hospital staff members have expressed concerns regarding the hospital's ventilation system. Paul Vilja, a nursing supervisor at Western State Hospital, said multiple individuals on the hospital's staff have reported illness. According to Mr. Vilja, the hospital's heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system "have never been cleaned due to the expense involved."
Hospital officials have asked the local health department to test the facility's water system.
Western State Hospital has come under substantial scrutiny in 2016. In April, two patients considered dangerous escaped from the facility. In June, the hospital's CEO was found in contempt of court for keeping a man with dementia and behavioral disturbances on the wait list for admission after a civil court ordered the man to go to the hospital. In November, Western State came under investigation after hospital officials did not notify police after unauthorized photographs of a patient were discovered on an employee's phone.
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