FLINT, MI - McLaren Regional Medical Center officials have confirmed that Legionella bacteria was found in the hospital's water supply at their Flint location after the city switched from Detroit to the Flint River as their water source in 2014.
"After the City of Flint switched to the Flint River as its water source in April of 2014, we noticed an increase in the number of Legionella cases that were coming to McLaren for treatment, as well as those being reported across the county and at other hospitals," McLaren spokeswoman, Laurie Prochazka said. "Because of that concern, and concern over the quality of water that we were receiving from the city, we began aggressively testing our water supply. An early test result indicated the presence of a low level Legionella."
The statement did not say exactly when the hospital had their water tested but did say they took various measures to control the issue including installing a secondary water disinfectant system, lead filters on ice machines and monitoring their water system more "aggressively."
"All Legionella and lead testing continues to show that the McLaren Flint water supply is well within safety and quality standards," said Prochazka. "It is important to note that no test have ever determined that McLaren is the source of exposure for any patients testing positive for the Legionella antigen, and that there is no definitive data to support that McLaren Flint is the source of exposure for any patient testing positive for the Legionella antigen."
Gov. Rick Snyder and state Health and Human Services Department officials
, that the Flint area experienced a spike in Legionnaires' beginning in summer 2014 that left 10 dead and 77 others sick in 18 months.
The outbreak began shortly after Flint stopped using treated water from Detroit and began using the Flint River as the source of its drinking water, a change made by a Snyder-appointed emergency manager.
State health officials investigated a possible link between the city's water supply and the outbreak, but the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued a report Jan. 21 saying the state investigators were unable to "determine a conclusive environmental source" of a Legionnaires Disease outbreak in the Flint area.
The report reviewed 42 Legionnaires' cases reported in the Flint area between May and Oct. 2015. Four deaths associated with the disease were included in the study.
This is the second report the agency has released on the outbreak. The first report was compiled in June 2015 but not released to the public until Jan. 13. It showed 45 Legionnaire's cases were reported in the Flint area between June 2014 and March 2015.
Initially, state officials reported that 10 people had died from the outbreak, but that number was changed to nine in the newest study.
Even though things are inconclusive Terri Nelson of Flushing said various findings are helping her family find closure after her husband Dwayne Nelson died in 2015.
Nelson said she is sure her husband, Dwayne Nelson, came in contact with Flint water at McLaren and that is how he may have contracted Legionnaires' disease -- a condition that can infect the lungs and cause pneumonia.
Nelson's husband, Dwayne Nelson, went to the hospital on July 25, 2015 for complications with a stent that was used to administer his chemo and radiation treatments. He was diagnosed with lung cancer that May. Nelson said her husband became very ill and had to be taken to the hospital again on Aug. 1 by ambulance. He died Aug. 7 a day after doctors told Nelson that Dwayne had Legionnaires' disease. Nelson said her husband was exposed to Flint water at McLaren during his initial July 25 visit.
"This is just so much," Nelson said after learning that McLaren officials confirmed Legionella was found in the hospital's water tests. "We have been wondering for a long time how he got it. It's time for all the answers to come out."
MLive staff writer Gary Ridley contributed to this report.