Watchdog: At least 6 deaths at state-run institution caused by 'preventable' UTIs

RICHMOND - At least six residents of the Central Virginia Training Center in Madison Heights have suffered "prolonged and painful" deaths because of preventable urinary tract infections, according to the disAbility Law Center of Virginia.

The Richmond-based watchdog organization, which is responsible for monitoring serious incidents at state-run institutions, released a report Monday outlining six deaths between March 2015 and May 2016. The names of the patients who died were blacked out of the report.

Colleen Miller, executive director of the law center, said she believes there were possibly four or five more deaths caused by urinary tract infections in that time period, but she can't be sure because the information the group receives from Central Virginia Training Center is not always timely or complete.

"It was alarming to see that a state-operated institution had this many UTI-related deaths," Miller said. "We've raised a number of issues with them about the timeliness of the reports and the absence of information we get in the reports. I don't think we've seen a lasting fix."

Urinary tract infections are often caused by bacteria entering through the urethra and building up in the bladder. When treated quickly and properly, they rarely result in complications, but they can result in sepsis, a life-threatening complication of an infection, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The receptionist at Central Virginia Training Center directed all questions to the spokeswoman for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, which oversees training centers for people with disabilities. The Richmond Times-Dispatch is waiting on a response from the department.

According to the report from the disAbility Law Center of Virginia, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services released an alert in 2015 regarding the dangers of urinary tract infections and the steps that need to be taken to prevent them.

The same year, the independent reviewer under the 2012 settlement agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Virginia "found the Commonwealth's practices to be deficient and recommended that Virginia take more aggressive action to identify early indicators of potential harm, including UTIs, for individuals in the Settlement Agreement's target population," according to the report.

The disAbility Law Center of Virginia wrote a letter to Central Virginia Training Center officials in September 2016 outlining the deaths and urging them to take "immediate steps to improve UTI prevention and treatment protocols, and infection control practices generally, to stem the tide of UTI-linked deaths at your facility."

By late 2016, the Central Virginia Training Center convened a committee to address the issue, according to the law center's report. The work group's plan was later outlined in the April 2017 issue of the employee newsletter.

The committee also developed documents for more effective use of medical equipment, and the training center has been promoting the health benefits of drinking more water.

"I would hope that nobody at Central Virginia Training center needs to die from a UTI going forward," Miller said. "I'm not convinced that their practices will ensure that yet, but I do believe they're on the right track."