SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Extra chlorine was injected Tuesday into the water at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane to kill the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ Disease.
KXLY-TV reports that people in the hospital are drinking bottled water and nurses are giving patients sponge baths. The hospital has about 500 patients and 4,000 employees. Officials expect to have clean water by May 20.
Three patients have come down with the Legionnaires’ Disease since January and one has died, although the hospital says the bacteria likely weren’t the cause of the death.
Tests conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found Legionella bacteria in the water supply.
