Piatt County Nursing Home tests positive for Legionella
MONTICELLO, Ill. (WCIA) — Administrators are doing all they can to bring life back to normal for residents at the Piatt County Nursing Home after Legionella was found in the water system.
Last week, one resident died because of Legionnaire’s disease, and now the State Department of Public Health has the official test results back, with the nursing home testing positive for Legionella.
Executive Director Scott Porter shared that there were no signs the water system harbored bacteria before two residents tested positive, but after results, it was more than likely the water would test positive.
“This result’s not that surprising to us, but basically our entire hot water system is compromised with it at this point,” Porter said.
One person died as a result of Legionnaire’s disease, while another was exposed to the bacteria but had no signs of illness.
“We’ve installed point of contact filters, that are approved basically by our water consultants we were working with,” Porter added. “We hope to have every point of contact fixed.
Porter said the 50-year-old building was outfitted with filters on many water fixtures last week. Those that weren’t updated have not been used since. Residents have been using bottled water for drinking.
What is Legionnaires’ disease?
“The shower rooms are running, the kitchens are running, any place that we would need hot water,” Porter said. “But the residents rooms unfortunately, we have to use wash basins three times a day for them to be able to wash their hands.”
The home hopes to have safe hot water running to rooms by Tuesday. There have been no new cases of Legionnaire’s disease found. IDPH recommends testing only for those patients showing respiratory symptoms, but families can also request them — something Porter had to consider since his father is a resident.
“You think about that, do you want them to be tested? For my family, we decided to follow the guidance of IDPH,” Porter added.
Porter spoke with the person’s family who died of Legionnaire’s disease. He said it is something he wishes he could have seen coming.
“That’s the kind of thing that if anybody else has an organization like ours, consider testing anyways,” Porter said. “You don’t want to go through this. You don’t want to learn you have an issue because there’s been a death.”
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