No one knows the facility’s needs like a facility manager does but the money to fix things must be approved by administrators. Pressing needs are often pushed off due to high repair costs no matter how much you push.
According to a lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court, “A former director of engineering at Seattle Children’s Hospital was terminated when she made top managers aware of problems and told them she had grave concerns over the condition of air-handling equipment.”
Hospital officials knew there was an issue with the air handling equipment serving their operating rooms for over a decade and did not correct the situation.
This was a costly mistake.
The hospital is now facing multiple lawsuits including one possible class action lawsuit. At least 14 children have been infected by Aspergillus mold in the OR’s air handling system. Six children have died, and autopsy reports pointed to complications from severe mold infections.
Hospital officials had known for years of the following issues listed in the lawsuit:
- Air intake systems in poor condition; appeared maintenance neglected for years
- Dead birds and copious other debris were lodged in the intake screens
- Air handling unit condensation pans were filled with slimy water
- Operating and maintenance manuals for the air-handling system were missing
“Another engineer also made hospital officials aware of deficiencies in air-handling equipment, including filthy equipment, plugged intake screens, mold accumulations around fan coils and drain pans, air intake screens plugged with bird droppings and other equipment that was rotting out,” according to a report by the News Staff at KOMO TV in Seattle, Washington.
A risk assessment including input from other in-house, or vendor resources may be the only way to get management to understand the importance of your repair request.
