A public health and safety organization is partnering with a consulting firm to offer long-term care facilities expert advice in avoiding Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks.
Ann Arbor, MI-based NSF International announced the new partnership in April, as it joins forces with Homeyer Consulting Services, of Tewksbury, MA, which bills itself as the “nation’s largest independent industrial water consulting firm.” Together, they plan to help skilled nursing and other provider facilities control Legionella and any other waterborne pathogens.
This issue has been top-of-mind for long-term care leaders, following a deadly outbreak at one nursing home in Illinois. Reported cases of Legionnaires’ have more than quadrupled since 2000, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Such controversies could be avoided in the future, with the proper precautionary measures, said Christopher Boyd, general manager of NSF International’s Building Water Health Program in North America. About nine out of 10 Legionnaires’ outbreaks could have been prevented with more effective water management, the CDC says.
From the June 01, 2018 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
