Rose Cancer Center shut down; Health Dept. advises patients to get screenings

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Rose Cancer Center shut down; Health Dept. advises patients to get screenings

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

First Posted: August 01, 2011 - 9:57 am

SUMMIT, Miss. — Patients at a clinic in Summit may have been exposed to a viral

infection and are being told to get checked out, according to Mississippi health

officials.

State health officer Dr. Currier tells the Enterprise-Journal

(http://bit.ly/okF9FG) that the situation arose after about some patients of the

Rose Cancer Center showed up at the Southwest Regional Medical Center in McComb.

" We know that there were 11 patients seen at the hospital in McComb with

invasive bacterial infections who were patients from the clinic, " Currier said,

referring to " bloodstream infection or pneumonia. "

The patients were treated July 9 to July 18, and their conditions were reported

to the Health Department. The clinic was closed on July 20.

" We investigated what was going on with the clinic and found infection control

problems, and to make sure that didn't continue to happen, we asked them to

close, " Currier said.

The Department of Health sent letters this past week to center patients

notifying them the clinic has been closed for " unsafe infection control

practices. "

The letter said no cases of Hepatitis B or C or HIV have been reported from the

unsafe practices but advised patients to undergo screenings at the local health

department and that includes anyone who has ever been a patient at the Summit

clinic.

" This is out of a preponderance of caution, " Currier said. " Because there is a

small possibility of this (infection), we want to find those folks in case

anything like this happens so they can be treated appropriately. We don't know

when these infection control practices started, so we're asking anyone who's

been seen at this clinic since it opened to get tested. "

The center opened in 2008.

The Health Department advisory only applies to people who were patients at the

clinic after it opened in Summit.

Currier said the Rose clinic, which provided chemotherapy treatment, is

referring patients to University Medical Center in .

" We just want to make sure all the patients get continuing care and, because

there are infection control issues, to make sure they get tested, " Currier said.

" We're asking people to come to (the Health Department) to be tested and we're

doing the testing free of charge. "

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Information from: Enterprise-Journal, http://www.enterprise-journal.com