By Nate West
News Editor
Olean General Hospital alerted 1,915 people who were inpatients between Nov. 2009 and Jan. 16, 2013 that they may have received insulin injections with a used insulin pen, according to a Jan. 24 press release.
“Recent interviews with nursing staff at the hospital indicated that some insulin pens may have been used for more than one patient,” William F. Mills, senior vice president of quality and professional affairs, said in a letter sent to the patients from the hospital. “We have not identified any specific patients who received an insulin injection from another patient’s insulin pen and there is no documentation of any transmission of blood-borne infections during the hospitalization of any patients during this period.”
Hospital officials recommend patients who received insulin from an insulin pen during the aforementioned time period be tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, the same press release said.
Roger Keener, director of the Center for Student Wellness at St. Bonaventure University, said no students have visited health services concerned about an insulin injection yet, but encourages anyone who has any concerns to visit a nurse or nurse practitioner.
“Any student that’s concerned (can) check with our health care providers, and we can help them out in any way to reassure them that they’re okay or what needs to be done, that type of stuff. We would provide any information or counseling or education that we could,” Keener said.
Keener hopes students who are concerned use the resources available on campus.
“We want to check out ‘are you safe,’ ‘are you okay,’ those types of things,” he said. “So if there are any students out in our community, I would hope that they would come here and talk to us, and the health care provider would maybe help them get the test to see if they were okay and the education or prevention to see what they could do.”
Olean General Hospital first decided to investigate the re-use of insulin pens after a similar incident occurred at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Buffalo, the same press release said.
“This situation prompted Olean General Hospital to initiate its own review and audit of the use of insulin pens at the hospital,” Timothy J. Finan, President and CEO of Upper Allegany Health System, said in the press release. “We are most apologetic for the inconvenience and concern this matter may cause to our patients.”
The Wellness Center serves as a good starting point for any illness a student may have, according to Keener.
“I mean, any type of illness or thought that they would have in terms of them not feeling well or whatever, I would hope that they would come to us for that referral or for the treatment,” Keener said.
The hospital has established a call center available from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, which can be reached at either (716)-375-7590 or 1-888-980-1220. The Wellness Center is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the nurse practitioner available from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
A representative of the hospital’s marketing department declined to comment.
