Bay Pines clears itself of any fault in dialysis patients' infections

ST. PETERSBURG — Authorities at Bay Pines VA Medical Center say an internal investigation has cleared the facility of any wrongdoing in connection with a rash of infections among dialysis patients that broke out this summer.

Bay Pines began looking into the situation after five patients got bacterial infections within several weeks of one another.

The first case occurred on May 26. Two more patients came down with infections in June, and two more got infections in July.

A multidisciplinary team at Bay Pines launched an investigation called a root cause analysis, which was completed late last week.

"The group looked at everything, and they were not able to find a cause," said Faith Belcher, a Bay Pines spokeswoman. "We didn't identify any system problems."

Bay Pines has 12 dialysis chairs in its unit and averages 34 patients at any given time, Belcher said.

The patients who became infected weren't using the same machine, weren't being cared for by the same nurse and didn't have the same type of bacteria in their blood, Belcher said.

Authorities also learned that two of the patients had received dialysis at other facilities during the time period in question. Others, she said, are experiencing financial hardships and living in "tough" living situations that may have made it hard for them to take proper care of themselves.

Experts say that although it's not unusual for dialysis patients to get infections, it is worrisome when a cluster like the one at Bay Pines occurs.

There have been no other infections since July, Belcher said. She said the facility will continue to keep an eye on the situation and place an emphasis on patient education.

Kameel Stanley can be reached at kstanley@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8643.