Still a long way to go for St Louis veteran centre
Senator Claire McCaskill has announced that there is still a long way to go at the John Cochran veteran care centre in St Louis.
The facility has been at the centre of a media storm since it was revealed that poor sterilisation procedures threatened the health of almost two thousand patients. Earlier this year, around 1,800 patients received letters encouraging them to go for a blood test to check for infections including HIV and hepatitis.
Since the revelations, numerous investigations have been conducted to determine how the sterilisation blunder occurred; patients said that the facility was dirty and rundown and some staff claimed that sterilisation had not been a priority. Investigations confirmed that there had been considerable failings in the sterilisation process at the facility and subsequently, a number of people’s health was endangered.
Over the course of the investigations, staff at the facility and members of the Veteran’s Association have been very helpful, according to Senator McCaskill. She stressed that the blunder was unacceptable and condemned the performance of the centre; however, she said that she was now confident that the centre was functioning well and that rigorous sterilisation procedures were now in place. The centre had the lowest patient satisfaction ratings out of all Veteran’s Affairs facilities but staff are now working hard to improve standards of care and officials are keeping a close eye on the centre.
McCaskill thanked staff and officials for being honest and transparent throughout the investigation; all of the patients were contacted and asked to have a blood test. Four cases of hepatitis were confirmed.
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