Federal Investigators Find Critical Failings at Health Center Where 11 Children Died in Virus Outbreak

A viral outbreak killed 11 children at a New Jersey health center last year due to a lack of administrative oversight, slow responses from medical staff and a flawed infection-control plan, according to a federal investigation. Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Haskell, N.J. is strongly contesting investigators’ findings. The 114-page report, which was compiled by the New York regional office of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and reviewed by TIME, says the pediatric medical director at the Wanaque Center “didn’t understand what medical director meant” when he assumed the position, had not filed a monthly report in four years and did not attend quality assurance and performance meetings. “Regarding the outbreak of the virus, I thought the state was over reacting,” the pediatric medical director told investigators. “I said, ‘How is it going to spread?’ That was in October. I knew we had a problem after the 4th death.” The doctor was not named in the report, but was identified as Dr. Maged Ghaly by the North Jersey Record, which first reported on the investigation. Ghaly told TIME he had been advised by lawyers not to comment. The report, which also includes Wanaque’s full plan of correction, alleges that the medical center did not have an adequate infection-control plan, did not respond appropriately when illnesses began to emerge and did not properly monitor the facilityR...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthytime Infectious Disease New Jersey onetime Source Type: news