Report:Veteran center cited

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/503115.html?nav=5006

By MICHAEL C. LEWIS / Journal Staff Writer
POSTED: January 27, 2008

MARTINSBURG — Ongoing concerns surrounding the exposure of an employee and a patient to mold in October 2006 at the Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center near Martinsburg sparked an internal investigation of the facility by the Department of Labor that led to the hospital being cited in December for unsafe and unhealthful working conditions.

An 11-page report released to The Journal under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act details the investigation of the facility, at 510 Butler Ave., and cites the hospital for violating health and safety guidelines during the removal of a mold hazard from a same-day surgery kitchenette on the second floor in the main building.

Work performed in the kitchenette to remove the mold was not completed in accordance with guidelines from the Veterans Health Administration, states the report, which was compiled by a four-member investigative team with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Center for Engineering and Occupational Safety, and submitted after their visit on Sept. 11 and 12, 2007.

As a result of mold removal mistakes, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, an agency within the Department of Labor, issued a notice of unsafe or unhealthful working conditions on Dec. 27, ordering the medical center to abate the conditions by Jan. 24 or request an informal conference with the U.S. Department of Labor’s area office in Charleston.

Barb Corbin, a spokesperson for the hospital, declined to comment last week.

“This (CEOSH) report is an internal review and remains open and ongoing,” she said. “At this time, it would be inappropriate to comment.”

FULL story at link.