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VA EMPLOYEES TELL OF INSECT INFESTATION AT
HAMPTON
NURSING CARE UNIT -- "He just looked really bad
so we
got him cleaned up and he had maggots coming
out
of his throat and all over the bed."
Story here...
http://www.wavy.com/
Global/story.asp?S=6725751
Story below:
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Employees at Hampton VA hospital tell all about
insect infestation in nursing care unit
10 On Your Side is investigating disturbing claims on the Peninsula.
Maggots and flies at the Hampton VA Hospital.
Employees say there's an outbreak of bugs in the nursing care home unit.
Employees tell 10 On Your Side exclusively this is just the latest
problem.
And as upset as those employees are about what they're seeing and quite
literally feeling, they say they are even more outraged by the
hospital's delayed response.
Employees were so concerned about the possible repercussions of coming
forward, we agreed to disguise their identities and change their voices.
The latest round of complaints at the VA Hospital in Hampton is enough
to make anyone's stomach turn and skin crawl
Maggots and scabies
"Gross .. Grossed out .. Really sickening.. I wanted to throw up .. And
then to help the patient
This employee, who we'll call Melissa says she discovered nearly 100
maggots coming out of a patient's trach tube.
"He just looked really bad so we got him cleaned up and he had maggots
coming out of his throat and all over the bed," she told us.
The VA Hospital acknowledges there was a patient with insect larva and
says:
"This case was evaluated and a certified pest control professional
conducted a physical inspection finding no other incidence."
But employees we spoke with say that's not the only problem in the
B-side of the long term nursing care home unit
"Some of the staff have bites .. Some of the patients have bites and
rashes," Melissa told us.
The VA hospital says it investigated a possible scabies outbreak.
In a statement emailed to WAVY News 10, the hospital said: "appropriate
precautions were initiated to include testing which were all negative
for scabies. Since a rash was identified on a small number of patients
and staff, we are taking precautionary measures by treating individuals
on the nursing home care unit."
Employees showed us the cream the hospital is giving out. But this
employee, who we'll call Jane, says management waited two weeks too
long.
"Instead of coming and investigating the patients that we brought to
their attention and seeing if it was really something, they wanted to
blow it off. And now they have to treat everyone that's come in contact
with that patient," she tols us.
Employees say they worry most about the patients with dementia who can't
express that they're uncomfortable.
The hospital says it continues to place the safety and well being of its
veterans and staff as its highest priority.
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Larry Scott --
