Report: At-risk patients weren’t watched
Hospital violated policies in observation of 8, investigation says
On Feb. 2, an employee at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill was forced to divide their attention between a suicidal patient who had already selfharmed in the hospital and another patient with behavioral health needs.
The staff member had been assigned to watch both patients at the same time.
Meanwhile, a different suicidal patient was allowed to use the bathroom unattended. These are just two of multiple observations made by an investigator with the Pennsylvania Department of Health during a two-day on-site investigation of the hospital.
The investigation, which occurred on Feb. 2 and Feb. 3 in LVH-Schuylkill’s emergency behavioral health unit, found the hospital violated federal regulations and didn’t follow its own policies by failing to provide proper observation of eight patients, including three who were assessed by the hospital to be at high risk for suicide.
In an emailed statement, Michael Peckman, spokesperson for Lehigh Valley Health Network, said LVH-Schuylkill, like many hospitals and health care systems across the state, “have seen a significant increase in behavioral health patients at a time when there’s a national staffing shortage.”
He said the hospital responded appropriately to the issues that were highlighted in the investigation.
“At LVH—Schuylkill, and throughout our health network, we take these matters very seriously and our commitment to patient safety is demonstrated by our self-reporting and immediate response to remedy this situation and prevent future occurrences, which included re-education of our staff, as outlined
data from this study might provide more evidence to push the agenda forward, that private well water ... could be causing health issues,” she said.
Murphy added that an estimated 80,000 cases of acute gastrointestinal illnesses per year, across all age groups, are caused by private well water.
Pennsylvania also has the second highest number of private wells in the U.S. behind Michigan, Murphy said. About 3 million people in the state, including 222,000 children under the age of 5, rely on water from private wells, according to Turner.
The Environmental Protection Agency also doesn’t regulate private groundwater supplies nationwide, Turner said.
For the study, each participating family will receive a lightbulb-like device, called a UV water treatment system, for one year. The device will be placed inside the family’s house and connected to its water system. Once turned on, the device will emit a UV light that will kill any illness-causing microorganisms in the home’s water system at a 99.9% efficacy rate, Murphy said.
Throughout the trial period, participants will report to the researchers about the health conditions of their child or children.
At random selection, half of participants will receive a working UV water treatment system, while the other half will receive a placebo device to compare the illness rates of children in the study. Families with a placebo device will receive a functional one at the end of the study, along with every other participating family.
Other incentives to participate in the trial, Murphy said, include gift cards and a raffle for trips to Hersheypark.
If the study finds there is an issue with Pennsylvania private wells causing these illnesses, Murphy said a combination of different solutions could help, including more regulations for how private wells are created, making devices like the HV water treatment systems more affordable for vulnerable populations (they can be as expensive as $1,000) and better informing residents on how to maintain their wells.
“Private well water is complicated because it is on personal property,” she said. “It’s an advantage in that you can manage your own water supply, but it’s a disadvantage where people might not have the knowledge to know what to do and how to do it.”
The National Institutes of Health funded the study, which began last July and is expected to continue for another couple of years, at least. The Canada-based Trojan Technologies donated the UV water treatment systems.