Crime & Safety

Hospital Worker at Center of Multistate Hepatitis C Outbreak Not Believed to Have Worked Downriver

Dave Kwiatkowski, who once worked at a Wayne hospital, is said to have no ties to the area.

A former hospital worker who is criminally charged for allegedly spreading hepatitis C to 30 patients is believed to have no connections with any Downriver hospital.

Former hospital worker to 30 patients in Exeter, NH, by stealing their medication to get high, according to Exeter Patch.

Kwiatkowski worked at several hospitals across the country, including Oakwood Annapolis in Wayne, where he worked from Jan. 2007 to Sept. 2007, and is believed to have been employed by other hospitals in Michigan, according to Paula Rivera-Kerr, manager of media relations at in Trenton.

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CNN reported that Kwiatkowski once had worked at Southshore in Trenton, but Rivera-Kerr said that was not true.

And on Thursday, Henry Ford Health System released a statement saying that Kwiatkowski had never worked at any of their hospitals.

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Henry Ford and Oakwood are the sole large health systems with a presence Downriver.

Angela Minicuci, public information officer at the Michigan Department of Community Health, said the MDHC cannot confirm the details of Kwiatkowski's employment history due to the ongoing investigation.

"We are currently working with Michigan facilities to confirm employment history and will determine next steps based upon our findings from there, including any actions that may need to be taken for patient safety purposes," Minicuci said. "In consultation with these facilities, we anticipate finalizing that list within the next several days, at which point public notification and any accompanying recommendations will occur."

Kwiatkowski, whom New Hampshire prosecutors said knew he had hepatitis C as early as June 2010, was a "traveler" who did technical work in several states.

Prosecutors said Kwiatkowski would shoot himself up with syringes full of powerful narcotics such as Fentanyl and then replace the needles with a solution to make it look as if they were untouched. The tainted needles were then used on unsuspecting patients.

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