News

Jul 09, 2023

More Than A Dozen Impacted By Scabies At VA Medical Center

Medical teams have ordered precautions to prevent the spread of scabies at Washington DC VA Medical Center after thirteen reports surface. The facility is still operational while clinicians sort out

Medical teams have ordered precautions to prevent the spread of scabies at Washington DC VA Medical Center after thirteen reports surface.

The facility is still operational while clinicians sort out how best to address the problem. Residents, staff, and their families are working with the clinicians since at least 12 were potentially exposed. The agency says only one patient was affected.

VA would not confirm if the employees had confirmed scabies cases.

Scabies is a highly contagious parasite that can live on the skin for months. The mite burrows into the skin to lay eggs resulting in itchy, red rashes. The mites can be transmitted by touching skin, clothing, or bedding.

The Washington DC VA Medical Center has been rife with problems for the past few years generally involving dirty equipment, dangerously low levels of supplies, and poor management.

RELATED: Blast From 2017

In summary, the facility:

Here are the full bullet points on missing supplies and equipment:

VA OIG later determined the above problems existed for some time:

IG also found VA was mixing clean supplies with dirty supplies:

The facility can’t quite seem to get a handle on basic facility management. Every few years, VA has a scabies problem. The last one I could find in the news was 2011.