Tag: Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital

Legionella Bacteria Resurfaces At Huntington-Area Hospital

Tests show bacteria that causes the severe form of pneumonia known as Legionnaires’ disease has resurfaced at a West Virginia-run hospital, health officials said.

Routine screening found Legionella bacteria at the Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington. The hospital is operated by the state Department of Health and Human Resources. The building where the bacteria was detected did not house patients.

In April, the hospital replaced all faucets and a hot water heater and installed a recirculation pump after the bacteria first was detected in two sinks in the hospital’s administration building.

The bacteria in the latest tests was found in the same places as in April: a CEO restroom and a former human resources break room in a basement, the DHHR said in a news release.

Legionnaire’s disease can be dangerous to people with lung or immune system problems. It is spread by inhaling droplets from contaminated water sources. The disease can be treated with antibiotics.

DHHR Confirms COVID-19 Outbreak At Huntington Hospital

This story was updated at 5:50 p.m. with additional information from the Department of Health and Human Resources.

More than 50 patients and employees at Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Local and state health officials tested all patients at the state-run psychiatric ward Tuesday, according to a statement from the state Department of Health and Human Resources Wednesday afternoon.

DHHR Cabinet Secretary Bill Crouch confirmed the outbreak during a virtual press briefing Wednesday, one week after an employee for the psychiatric facility died.

The DHHR said that it has yet to confirm a single source of the outbreak through contact tracing.

The Bateman employee was one of the first known nurses to die of COVID-19 in West Virginia.

“I will give you my assurances that as soon as we’re done here, I’m going to consult again with the National Guard and the DHHR, and amp up our response from the governor’s office, to be able to absolutely be positive [that] we’re doing everything that we possibly can there,” Gov. Jim Justice said.

The DHHR reported around 5 p.m. that Ayne Amjad, the state health officer, was on her way to Huntington.

So far, the outbreak includes 24 patients and 35 employees who have tested positive for the coronavirus.

All positive patients, Crouch said, are in an isolation unit away from other patients, while employees who have tested positive are supposed to stay home. He also said that the hospital has set up an exposure unit.

“We’re following this closely and having conversations with the CEO and administration of the facility daily,” Crouch said of the 110-bed hospital.

Officials from Bateman Hospital did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.

This is not the state’s first documented hospital outbreak — in August, dozens of people from Logan and Mingo counties, working and staying at Logan Regional Medical Center, contracted the virus.

The state was tracking 28 active coronavirus outbreaks in long-term care facilities on Wednesday, according to the West Virginia coronavirus dashboard.

Five of those facilities are in Cabell County. In September, hospital workers with the local union for public employees protested against poor working conditions. As the Huntington Herald-Dispatch reported, employees and union representatives mentioned understaffing, bullying and a lack of resources for employee mental health.

According to the DHHR Wednesday afternoon, leaders at Bateman have “taken every precautionary measure suggested and required since March.” That would include daily temperature checks, screening and personal protective equipment.

State protocols require that the hospital continue testing staff and patients twice a week.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

November 26, 1952: Fire Kills 17 at Huntington State Hospital

A fire broke out at the Huntington State Hospital on November 26, 1952—the night before Thanksgiving—killing 17 patients.

The hospital was established in 1897 as the Home for Incurables. At the time, mentally ill people were often placed in these so-called insane asylums to remove them from society. A tall wire fence and iron gates made the facility appear more like a prison than a hospital. The hospital’s name was changed to the West Virginia Asylum in 1901 and to Huntington State Hospital in 1916.

The 1952 fire was deadlier than it should have been because of antiquated conditions and overcrowding at the hospital. Five of the victims were girls under the age of 15. All the others were women, the oldest being 89.

After the tragedy, efforts were made to upgrade the facility, and a vocational rehabilitation center was established there in 1958. It was the first rehabilitation center in the nation to be located on the same grounds as a state hospital. In 1999, the hospital’s name was changed to honor Dr. Mildred Mitchell-Bateman, who dedicated her life to helping the mentally ill.

March 22, 1922: Physician Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Born

Physician Mildred Mitchell-Bateman was born in Georgia on March 22, 1922. Her career in West Virginia began in 1947, when she became a staff physician at Lakin State Hospital in Mason County. Lakin was the state hospital for African-American mental patients.

Mitchell-Bateman left Lakin to establish her own practice but returned in 1955 and became the hospital’s superintendent three years later.

In 1960, she was promoted to supervisor of professional services for the state Department of Mental Health. Two years later, Governor Wally Barron appointed Mitchell-Bateman director of the department, making her the first black woman in West Virginia to hold a high-level state administrative position. She served in that post for 15 years.

In 1973, she became vice president of the American Psychiatric Association and served on the Presidential Commission on Mental Health, which developed the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980. After leaving public service, she chaired the Marshall University Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry and was later clinical director of Huntington State Hospital, which was renamed in her honor in 1999.

Mildred Mitchell-Bateman died in Charleston in 2012 at age 89.

Staff Vacancies Drop at W.Va. Psychiatric Hospitals

State officials say staff vacancies have declined at West Virginia’s state-run psychiatric hospitals following court-ordered pay raises.

Vacancies at William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital in Weston dropped from 67 in January to 33 as of Dec. 15. Vacancies at Mildred Mitchell Bateman Hospital in Huntington declined from 19 to 17 during the same period.

Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Duke Bloom had ordered the pay raises in an ongoing case centering on the treatment of patients at the hospitals.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that Department of Health and Human Resources officials gave Bloom an update on the hospitals during a hearing last week.

Bureau of Behavioral Health and Health Facilities commissioner Victoria Jones testified that the number of patients also has declined at each hospital.

Request to Dismiss W.Va. Psych Hospital Case Denied

A request from the state Department of Health and Human Resources to throw out a 34-year-old psychiatric hospital case has been denied.

The Charleston Gazette reports the E.H. v. Matin case will continue after the request was denied in Kanawha County Circuit Court Tuesday by Judge Duke Bloom.

The case focuses on patient treatment at William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital in Weston and Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington. A judge says four patients at the hospitals in 1981 brought the case after they said they were being overly medicated.

The state Department of Health and Human Resources says the case should be dismissed because the patients listed as plaintiffs have since been released from the hospital.

The next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

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