Rocky Hill nursing home water tests positive for Legionella bacteria

A Rocky Hill nursing home has been prohibited from accepting new residents after the state Department of Public Health found it was providing contaminated water to residents and failed to properly address the issue.

Water at Apple Rehab, home to 64 residents, tested positive for Legionella, DPH said, the bacteria that causes the pneumonia-like illness Legionnaires’ disease.

An emergency order from DPH requires a few actions, including prohibiting new residents, a required use of bottled water, testing all residents for contamination, additional sampling, decontamination, a water management review and a plan of correction by Friday.

The DPH said that they “noted several failures,” within the Rocky Hill nursing home.

“These failures included, but were not limited to, failing to maintain a water management plan to mitigate the risk of Legionella and other waterborne pathogens; and failure to establish and maintain an infection prevention and control program designed to provide a safe, sanitary, and comfortable environment and to help prevent the development and transmission of waterborne pathogen diseases and infections,” they said.

Karen Donorfio, vice president of operations for Apple Rehab, which operates nursing homes across Connecticut, said the facility “is working closely with the Department of Public Health and complying with all recommendations to ensure water safety through a water management plan.”

“The current water management program ensures the use of safe water at all times,” she said. “The safety of our residents, staff, and visitors is our priority.”

Medicare and Medicaid directed nursing homes in 2017 and 2018 to develop policies that “inhibit microbial growth in building water systems that reduce the risk of growth and spread of Legionella and other opportunistic pathogens in water,” the DPH added.

Exposure to Legionella can develop into Legionnaires’ disease, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes as something similar to pneumonia with symptoms including cough, fever, headaches, muscle aches and shortness of breath. Those who contract the disease require antibiotics and “most cases of this illness can be treated successfully,” they added.

“Healthy people usually get better after being sick with Legionnaires’ disease, but they often need care in the hospital,” the CDC said. “About 1 out of every 10 people who gets sick with Legionnaires’ disease will die due to complications from their illness. For those who get Legionnaires’ disease during a stay in a health care facility, about 1 out of every 4 will die.”

For more information, go to https://www.cdc.gov/legionella/index.html.

Jessika Harkay can be reached at jharkay@courant.com.

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