EXETER — Exeter Hospital is expressing concerns about the state's recommendation that additional hospital employees be tested for hepatitis C to rule out the possibility of others on staff being involved in the outbreak.

The concerns were raised after the state announced Wednesday that another former patient known as “Patient 33” was diagnosed with the same strain of hepatitis as 32 others, including the radiology technician accused of spreading the blood-borne virus by shooting up a painkiller and leaving contaminated syringes behind to be used on patients.

The case involving the new patient is unique because the individual underwent a procedure in the hospital's cardiac catheterization laboratory before suspected “serial infector” David Kwiatkowski, 33, began working at the hospital, state health officials said. However, the hospital said the patient was still hospitalized during Kwiatkowski's first week of employment as a temporary worker in April 2011.

In a statement released Thursday, the hospital said it was not yet moving forward with more hepatitis testing for hospital employees because there are still “important questions” about how the new case became linked to Kwiatkowski.

“Before exploring the idea of expanded employee testing, we believe that all possible routes of transmission for this case both inside and outside the hospital should be considered and thoroughly investigated. We do not support the idea of government-driven broad based testing of employees without first having specific evidence concerning why that testing is appropriate on a case by case basis and there is strong legal support for it,” the hospital said.

Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, the state's epidemiologist, has said that there is no evidence yet to indicate that other workers were involved in drug diversion.

The hospital said it's confident that it will be able to work with the state on a more “targeted, rational approach that is consistent with state and federal laws, respects both patient and employee privacy rights, and does not create unnecessary anxiety or concern in the general public.”

The hospital plans to develop a voluntary testing notification and lab draw process over the next few days for a limited group of staff who provided direct care to “Patient 33.”

Meanwhile, an ad hoc committee working on proposals to change laws in the wake of the hepatitis C outbreak at Exeter Hospital met for the second time Wednesday in hopes of closing loopholes that allowed Kwiatkowski to slip through the cracks.

State Rep. Lee Quandt, R-Exeter, said the committee remains focused on developing two bills — one to require mandatory random drug testing for certain hospital workers and a second that would create a state registry where names and work histories of medical technicians would be kept along with a record of any firings or disciplinary action taken against them.

In the Exeter case, Kwiatkowski was fired from at least two other hospitals but that information was never shared with Exeter Hospital before he was hired.

“I think the most important thing we can do is have some place on record showing that if somebody screwed up, here's what they did and no matter where they go it's going to be right up there on a website, maybe on a Health and Human Services' website,” Quandt said.

Quandt and other committee members have acknowledged that drafting legislation in response to the outbreak won't be an easy task.

The committee must first find out how many medical technicians are working in the state and define their duties before establishing a licensing process and assigning an agency to oversee it, Quandt said, adding that the number could be in the thousands.

- - - - - - - -

Jason Schreiber may be reached at jschreiber@newstote.com.