Michigan Health Department Blames Flint Hospital for Legionnaires’ Outbreak

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services blames the McLaren Hospital in Flint, Michigan for an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease and not the town’s switch to its namesake river for drinking water.

Between 2014 and 2015, some 90 legionella cases, including 12 fatalities, were traced to common exposure the hospital, according to a report released by the health department.

The report’s key findings:

• No other large building with high risk plumbing was identified as a common source of exposure.
• Of the 83 patients for whom a complete exposure history was available, 54 (65 percent) case patients had hospital building exposure.
• 51 of 54 (94 percent) case patients with hospital healthcare exposures were at McLaren Flint Hospital.
• 46 of 54 case patients (85 percent) were exposed only to McLaren Flint.

The new report comes as a criminal probe into Flint’s water crisis is reaching a milestone for a couple top health department officials who face involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with the Legionnaires' outbreak.

Michigan's Chief Medical Executive Eden Wells and MDHHS Director Nick Lyon are waiting to see if judges will decide whether there is enough evidence to send charges against them, including involuntary manslaughter, to trial.

More details here.