Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital, Welland General Hospital and the Hotel Dieu Shaver rehabilitation centre

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.610cktb.com/news/local/story.aspx?ID=1444240

C-diff outbreak moves to Niagara Falls
Rod Mawhood, 610 CKTB News
6/17/2011

It appears the St. Catharines General isn't the only local hospital experiencing a C-difficile outbreak.

Eight patients at the GNGH - the Greater Niagara General Hospital - are being treated for the same superbug that has claimed eight lives at the St. Catharines General...


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Source: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/Art...aspx?e=3174101

GNGH not immune to C. difficile
By ALISON LANGLEY Niagara Falls Review
Updated 8 hours ago

Eight patients at the Greater Niagara General Hospital are being treated for the same superbug that has claimed nine lives at St. Catharines General Hospital.

The Niagara Falls hospital is urging visitors to comply with infection-control measures in order to prevent the spread of the disease...

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreak at the GNGH - the Greater Niagara General Hospital

C. difficile outbreak at Niagara Falls hospital
Niagara Falls, Welland
By QMI Agency
Updated 44 seconds ago
C. difficile outbreaks have been declared at two more Niagara hospitals.

The Niagara Health System declared outbreaks at both Greater Niagara General Hospital in Niagara Falls and at Welland General Hospital late Thursday.

St. Catharines General Hospital has been on outbreak since May 28.

"There is no evidence to support that the outbreaks in Niagara Falls, Welland or St. Catharines are related," said Frank Demizio, vice-president of patient services for the NHS, in a press release.

...

http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3185275

[Shiloh]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital and Welland General Hospital

Source: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/Art...aspx?e=3187078

NHS confirms four C. difficile deaths at GNGH
Outbreak announced Thursday with 11 cases
By JOHN LAW, NIAGARA FALLS REVIEW
Updated 48 minutes ago

The number of confirmed cases of C. difficile at Greater Niagara General Hospital has risen to 11, with four deaths.

Another patient was diagnosed Friday after the Niagara Health System announced an outbreak at the hospital Thursday night with ten cases. An outbreak was also declared at Welland General Hospital with 11 cases, including one death.

There are currently 20 confirmed cases at St. Catharines General Hospital, where 10 people have died since an outbreak was declared May 28...

[Shiloh]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital and Welland General Hospital

Source: http://www.610cktb.com/news/local/story.aspx?ID=1449873

Provincial team to help with C.difficile fight
Siobhan Morris, 610 CKTB News
6/28/2011

A provincial infection control team will be in the region Wednesday to help with three outbreaks of C.difficile.

Outbreaks were called at the Greater Niagara General and Welland General Hospitals last week. St. Catharines General Hospital has been battling an outbreak since May 28th.

It's the third time experts have been brought in to consult and provide support since the outbreak was declared at the St. Catharines General site, according to the Niagara Health System...

[Shiloh]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital and Welland General Hospital

Source: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/Art...aspx?e=3193912

C. diff not the only outbreak at GNGH
Total C. diff cases up to 13 in Niagara Falls
By BRETT CLARKSON Niagara Falls Review
Updated 2 hours ago

C. difficile is not the only outbreak at Greater Niagara General Hospital right now.

The hospital also has an outbreak of VRE and more than two dozen cases of MRSA, said Frank Demizio, the Niagara Health System's vice-president of patient services.

But Demizio said none of those patients are displaying symptoms.

"What I can tell you is that these patients are in the hospitals for other reasons and they're not suffering any apparent ill-effects from the colonization," Demizio said...

[Shiloh]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital and Welland General Hospital

Source: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/Art...aspx?e=3196010

Protest called as C. difficile cases rise to 14 in Falls
Those C. diff numbers don?t include four deaths, NHS says
By BRETT CLARKSON Niagara Falls Review
Updated 56 minutes ago

As the number of C. difficile cases increased to 14 at Greater Niagara General Hospital, a city councillor said he is planning a protest for next week to call attention to the "crisis" at the hospital.

Councillor Wayne Gates said the rally will happen outside GNGH next Wednesday at 3 p.m. and that the speakers will include Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati, local MPP Kim Craitor, and provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath.

"There is a crisis in health care in the Niagara Region and we have to find a solution to the problem," Gates said. "We deserve better health care than what we're getting."

Gates said he is angry that the NHS did not notify the public about the deaths of four patients at GNGH who had acquired C. difficile until a week after the most recent death.

The deaths occurred between May 12 and June 16 but information was not released about them until June 23.

That apparent delay in public disclosure was "the breaking point," Gates said...

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital and Welland General Hospital

Another patient with C. difficile dies in Welland
Greg Ross, 610 CKTB News
7/3/2011
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The total number of deaths in the region related to the latest outbreak of C. difficile has now risen to fifteen.

This after a second patient at the Welland Hospital has reportedly died after testing positive for the deadly disease.

Of the fifteen deaths related to C. difficile since the start of this outbreak, nine of them happened at the St. Catharines General hospital, four at the Greater Niagara General and now two in Welland.

The latest victim also had serious underlying health issues according to hospital staff.

The patient's death will now be reviewed to determine what role C. difficile played.

http://www.610cktb.com/news/local/story.aspx?ID=1451889

[Pathfinder]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital and Welland General Hospital

Concerns about Niagara hospitals grow as C. difficile death toll reaches 16

Published 1 hour 22 minutes ago
Mark Brownlee The Canadian Press

TORONTO?A chorus of concern about the management of a number of hospitals in Ontario's Niagara region is growing amidst an outbreak of Clostridium difficile that?s been linked to the deaths of 16 patients.

The patients were being treated at three hospitals experiencing clusters of cases of the bacterial disease: four died at the Greater Niagara General Hospital, 10 at St. Catharines General Hospital and two at the Welland Hospital since the outbreak was declared May 28.

The three centres are run by the Niagara Health System, a network of seven hospitals serving 434,000 people around Niagara Falls and St. Catharines.

More...

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1019264--concerns-about-niagara-hospitals-grow-as-c-difficile-death-toll-reaches-16?bn=1

[Shiloh]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital and Welland General Hospital

Source: http://www.610cktb.com/news/local/story.aspx?ID=1452938

Niagara hospitals get top to bottom cleaning
NHS looks to bleach-based rescue gel to end C.difficile outbreaks
Siobhan Morris, 610 CKTB News
7/5/2011

Niagara's hospitals are about to get a serious scrub down.

The Niagara Health System is taking on a top to bottom cleaning of all their sites to try to end outbreaks of C.difficile in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls & Welland.

The NHS will use a stronger version of a bleach-based product they already clean with.

Interim President & CEO of the NHS Sue Matthews says the provincial team that visited last week told them about "Virox Sporicideal Rescue Gel".

The team recommended the cleanup & other measures Matthews says the system has already acted on--reaching out to other hospitals, having a consistent public voice & re-prioritizing cleaning.

As of Tuesday there are 43 C.difficile patients in isolation at the outbreak sites--20 in St. Catharines, 13 in Niagara Falls & 10 in Welland.

C.difficile has also been flagged in 3 patients at Port Colborne's hospital & 1 each in Fort Erie & Niagara-on-the-Lake.

16 C.difficile patients have died since the first outbreak was declared in St. Catharines...

[Shiloh]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital, Welland General Hospital and the Hotel Dieu Shaver rehabilitation centre

Source: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/A...aspx?e=3202180

Fourth hospital declared on C. difficile outbreak
Hotel Dieu Shaver
By Grant LaFleche, Standard Staff
Updated 48 minutes ago

The Niagara Public Health Department is trying to determine if the C. difficile outbreak in three area hospitals has spread to the Hotel Dieu Shaver rehabilitation centre.

Associate medical officer of health Dr. Jessica Hopkins said her office is doing "detective work" to determine if a C. difficile outbreak at the rehab centre is the result of infected patients being transferred there from Niagara Health System hospitals where outbreaks were previously declared.

"It's a possibility and it's something that we are looking closely at," she said. "But we cannot say that for certain at this point, and it is very important to understand that this is often not a black and white issue."

The rehab centre declared the outbreak Wednesday afternoon after consulting with the public health department. That makes it the fourth Niagara hospital to do so, along with St. Catharines General, Niagara Falls and Welland.

Four patients at the hospital ? all transferred from NHS hospitals in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Fort Erie ? have C. difficile.

The Fort Erie hospital is not in outbreak status...

[Shiloh]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital, Welland General Hospital and the Hotel Dieu Shaver rehabilitation centre

Source: http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news/...t-welland-site

* Steve Henschel, staff
* Jul 07, 2011 - 5:10 PM
Third C. diff patient dies at Welland site
NHS brings in field epidemiologist to track outbreak

A field epidemiologist has been brought in to assist with the current C. difficile outbreaks at four Niagara Health System hospitals after a third person died in relation to the outbreak at the Welland Hospital Site late Wednesday afternoon.

The third death brings the total number of fatalities to 17 in the outbreaks declared at the St. Catharines General on May 28; the Greater Niagara General and Welland site on June 23 and the Hotel-Dieu Shaver on Wednesday. In total 67 cases of the infection have been confirmed since the outbreaks began...

[Shiloh]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital, Welland General Hospital and the Hotel Dieu Shaver rehabilitation centre

Source: http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news/...-at-hotel-dieu

* Mike Zettel, staff
* Jul 07, 2011 - 4:19 PM


C. diff outbreak at Hotel Dieu
Currently six patients with bacteria infection

Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre has become the latest hospital in the region to declare a C. difficile outbreak.

The St. Catharines hospital currently has six patients to test positive for the Clostridium difficile bacteria, which affects the intestines, causing diarhrhea.
Liz Pearson, manager of infection management and control, said four of the patients are associated with the outbreak. The first tested positive on June 21, while the other three tested positive within the next seven to 10 days.

The patients, aged 52-84, are in isolated rooms.

That cluster of four put the hospital above what is considered the baseline for the disease, a common infection in hospitals and long-term care homes. This resulted in the outbreak being declared...

[Shiloh]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital, Welland General Hospital and the Hotel Dieu Shaver rehabilitation centre

Source: http://www.globaltvbc.com/Three+more...251/story.html

Three more deaths linked to C. difficile infections in Ontario hospitals
Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press: Friday, July 8, 2011 2:07 PM

...Two patients in St. Catharines and one in Niagara-on-the-Lake died Thursday night, Dr. Sue Matthews of the Niagara Health System said Friday in a conference call from Welland.

The hospital in Niagara-on-the-Lake has not declared an outbreak, she said.

Ten Ontario hospitals reported outbreaks earlier this week, but health officials Friday said it was down to eight...

[Shiloh]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital, Welland General Hospital and the Hotel Dieu Shaver rehabilitation centre

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2095403/

Another life claimed by C. difficile, death toll at 21 in Niagara region
Kim Mackrael
Globe and Mail Update
Published Tuesday, Jul. 12, 2011 10:01PM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Jul. 13, 2011 5:27AM EDT

One more patient has died in connection with an outbreak of C. difficile in Niagara Health System hospitals, bringing the total number of deaths in that region to 21.

?This was an elderly patient with multiple health issues,? said Dr. Sue Matthews, interim chief executive officer of the health system. The patient died at the Welland site of the Niagara Health System...

[Shiloh]

Re: Ontario: C. diff outbreaks at the Greater Niagara General Hospital, Welland General Hospital and the Hotel Dieu Shaver rehabilitation centre

Source: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/Art...aspx?e=3212536


Latest C. difficile infection involves hospital staffer
By Grant LaFleche, Standard Staff, QMI Agency
Updated 12 minutes ago

For the first time since Niagara C. difficile outbreaks were declared, an employee of the Niagara Health System has contracted the potentially lethal infection.

Ontario's Ministry of Labour contacted the NHS late Wednesday afternoon to inform them they were investigating the case, said Sue Matthews, interim health system CEO.

Matthews would not disclose any information about the employee including, gender, age, job or which hospital the staffer worked at.

"I can say this person has other risk factors," she said, referring to the person's health...

...Currently, the NHS is combating outbreaks at the St. Catharines General, Greater Niagara General and Welland hospitals and the Hotel Dieu Shaver rehabilitation centre. So far, 22 C. difficile patients have died, 20 of them being outbreak patients. The other two acquired the infection elsewhere...