Venice (Fla.) Regional Bayfront Health officials held a press conference to address a large sewage leak that occurred six weeks ago and endangered patients at the facility, ABC 7 reported.
According to CNO Peggy Greene, MSN, infection control wipes that were flushed down the toilet created pressure that broke a cap on the sewage pipe. "That's definitely not the best practice," Ms. Greene conceded.
In addition to explaining the cause of the leak, officials confirmed the date of incident was May 26, information that had previously been kept private, and added that the 27-bed unit that was affected was roughly half-full at the time of the leak.
"On June 29 we did vacate the unit but that is because we decided that some infrastructure directly above the unit needed to be worked on, and as a result it would be very noisy and very disruptive to the patients directly below," said COO Kristen Gentry.
Ms. Gentry explained there was no concern of patients being effected at the time because air and swab cultures that were taken were validated by two infectious disease physicians and an environmental hygienist, according to the report.
To help facilitate efforts to mitigate the leak and its aftermath, senior regional engineer of Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health System Aaron Smith has been working with Venice Regional.
According to Mr. Smith, the sewage leaks have stopped and Venice Regional fixed the pipes and inspected the space to ensure that it is clean and sanitary.
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