Families Would Be Notified Quickly Of Outbreaks If Bill Passes

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A state assemblywoman wants to ensure patients' families are duly informed of viral outbreaks at health facilities.

Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, a Republican from Westwood, will introduce legislation that would require facilities to notify patients' families within 24 hours of an outbreak or other health emergencies.

Schepisi's legislation comes amid reports that some parents were not immediately notified of an adenovirus outbreak at the Wanaque Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation in Passaic County.

"There has been an obvious and troubling lack of communication," said Schepisi. "Parents were not notified in some instances until weeks after the outbreak began, including one parent who was notified only the day before her daughter died."

Schepisi spoke with officials from the state Department of Health and learned that the department has no mechanism to fine facilities for failing to communicate outbreak information to patients’ families.

"This is something that needs to be rectified," Schepisi said. "If there is an outbreak at a facility at the very least immediate family members should be immediately notified so that informed decisions can be made regarding patient care. It is unconscionable that families are still not receiving information or phone calls back regarding their children’s health."

Nine children at the Wanaque facility have died since an outbreak of the adenovirus was declared there. Victims became sick between Sept. 26 and Oct. 22. Authorities confirmed that the virus killed eight of the nine kids.

Twenty-six kids and a staff member, who has since recovered, have become ill as part of the outbreak, state health officials said. Laboratory tests confirmed the 26th case.

All nine children who died were "medically fragile" with compromised immune systems and became ill between Sept. 26 and Oct. 22, officials said. How the virus spread through the center is unknown.

Many of the patients have lived at the facility "all or most of their lives" because of medical conditions the children have, state Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal said in a press conference Wednesday.

The Department of Health was notified of the virus on Oct. 9. The state began monitoring the situation Oct. 10. State personnel will remain at the facility until the outbreak is over. The U.S. Center for Disease Control is assisting state officials and conducting lab tests related to the outbreak.

The facility has agreed to not admit new patients until the outbreak is over. All of those infected were located in the respiratory ward of the facility and are connected to ventilators to help them breathe, officials previously said.

There is "no immediate threat to the public" regarding the virus spreading to the rest of the populace, said Governor Phil Murphy.

The department needs four weeks without an additional case reported in order for the outbreak to be considered over.

Adenoviruses are typically a family of viruses that often cause mild illness, particularly in young children. But this particular strain of adenovirus (#7) is affecting medically fragile children with severely compromised immune systems.

Adenoviruses can cause mild to severe illness, though serious illness is less common. People with weakened immune systems, or existing respiratory or cardiac disease, are at higher risk of developing severe illness from an adenovirus infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

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