Hospital in Los Angeles Discovers Mold and Temporarily Cancels Some Surgeries

The Los Angeles Times published a report in late September about the temporary halt of elective surgeries at one of the major hospitals in the city and state. According to the publication, a water leak caused damage and mold growth in an area near the facility’s sterile processing room. The area was reportedly closed off for repairs and remediation. It was announced several days later that elective surgeries had been resumed.

When water or elevated humidity results in the growth of mold in a hospital or other health care facility it creates major concerns. Some types of mold can cause opportunistic infections in people, especially those with a weakened or suppressed immune system. In a health care environment, these infections are typically caused by inhalation exposure or through cutaneous infection.

“The reality of the danger of mold in a health care setting was highlighted earlier in the year when mold in a hospital in Washington resulted in infections in six patients, including one that later passed away,” said Michael Chapman, Laboratory Manager of LA Testing’s Huntington Beach facility. “In that case, mold was reported to have been discovered in the air filtration system of the facility. Fortunately, in the recent incident in Los Angeles, there were no reported illnesses.”

With locations across California, LA Testing offers air and other indoor environmental quality (IEQ) testing services to identify the presence of Aspergillus and other types of mold that can cause infections, allergies, respiratory irritation and even asthma attacks in some people with the condition. The laboratory provides all of the sampling supplies needed, test kits, air monitoring instruments and even building inspection tools to identify moisture issues that could lead to mold growth.

To learn more about mold, microbial pathogens, and indoor air quality (IAQ) and surface testing, please visit www.LATesting.com, email  info@LATesting.com  or call (800) 755-1794.  For access to IEQ test kits, visit www.EMSLTestKits.com.


About LA Testing
LA Testing is California’s leading laboratory for indoor air quality testing of asbestos, mold, lead, VOCs, formaldehyde, soot, char, ash and smoke damage, particulates and other chemicals. In addition, LA Testing offers a full range of air sampling and investigative equipment to professionals and the general public. LA Testing maintains an extensive list of accreditations including: AIHA LAP LLC., AIHA ELLAP, AIHA EMLAP and AIHA IHLAP, CDC ELITE, NVLAP, State of California, State of Hawaii Department of Health and other states. LA Testing, along with the EMSL Analytical, Inc. network, has multiple laboratories throughout California including South Pasadena, Huntington Beach, San Leandro, San Diego and Ontario.

Contact Information

Joseph Frasca

Senior Vice President of Marketing

LA Testing

(1) 856-303-2503

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