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HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A former employee of a hospital and nursing home in Fort Benton has filed a wrongful discharge lawsuit saying she was fired in retaliation for reporting the center did not properly handle a scabies outbreak, allowing it to spread.
Shannon Walden, a former infection control coordinator, is seeking about $60,000 in damages, Lee Newspapers of Montana reports.
Walden's lawsuit says some residents and staff at the Missouri River Medical Center were diagnosed with scabies in March 2015 and she recommended that the center proactively treat all residents, patients and staff for the contagious rash caused by mites. Scabies can be transferred by skin-to-skin contact or through contact with contaminated items, including bedding and clothing. Those infected may not show symptoms for two to six weeks, but can still spread the disease during that time.
"Institutional outbreaks can be difficult to control and require a rapid, aggressive, and sustained response," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Walden said the center ignored her recommendations and the rash spread to other people. Residents of Fort Benton called the Department of Public Health and Human Services, leading to a site visit by the agency. During the visit, Walden told the investigator she was concerned about how the outbreak was being handled and that the director of nursing wasn't following federal guidelines in treating it, possibly in part because she was concerned about the cost.
Walden contacted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in June and July, leading to site visits both times.
On Aug. 24, 2015, Walden sent an email to the infection control department at Benefis Health System in Great Falls saying that nursing director Janice Woodhouse lied during a conference call about the number of scabies cases at the center, which the lawsuit said was eight to 10. That same day, the center's board met and decided to fire her. Court records say the firing was because of a "required reduction in workforce and budgetary shortfalls."
Woodhouse did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press on Thursday seeking comment on the lawsuit.
Six nursing home residents showed signs of scabies, state investigators found. Inspectors found incomplete medical records, including not charting the rash as being scabies and no documentation of any steps taken to ensure the bedding, clothing and other items belonging to an infected resident were cleaned to prevent spread of the disease, the state found.
Records show Woodhouse believed one resident was exposed to scabies from a bathroom she shared with another resident and that a certified nursing assistant believed she was exposed while caring for a resident who was allowed to attend a community function after being treated for a skin infection.
A housekeeper raised concerns that precaution signs weren't put on resident rooms and that there were delays notifying housekeeping about the cleaning and sanitizing needs for residents with transmittable infections, the state report said.
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