So far, at least 18 victims of a Salmonella outbreak have been linked to the Bowling Green’s Heritage Corner Health Campus in Ohio, this according to the Wood County Health District (WCHD). The WCHD, in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Health (OHD) began its investigation after being made aware of the potential outbreak on June 9th. The victims began to get ill weeks earlier, in late May, with the first becoming symptomatic as early as May 24th.
Due to ongoing concern for residents health, the dining hall at Heritage Corner Health Campus was closed, as was other common areas, to allow for cleaning and sanitizing. The elderly are one of the most sensitive groups and salmonellosis can be both serious and life-threatening.
The Heritage Corner Health Campus, founded in 1982, is both a home for elderly residents (having both independent living facilities and assisted living facilities) and, as recently as 2007, home of a daycare. At present, only the main facility seems to be implicated, and no reports have been received of minor victims. As for the elderly residents, Heritage Corner will be serving meals in “to-go” containers that residents can consume in their individual rooms to help stem the spread of Salmonella.
According to Ron Simon, a national Salmonella lawyer, “these institutional settings are some of the most vulnerable to food borne illness.” Simon added “any failure to practice good personal hygiene or to fail to follow good food preparation and handling guidelines can quickly lead to the spread of any of the common food borne pathogens.”
For more information, or to discuss a the possibility of a Heritage Corner lawsuit, call 713-335-4900 and ask to speak to a food poisoning lawyer.
