COLUMBUS – A state employee has contracted Legionnaires’ disease, and while its origin has not been identified the hot-water system at the Rhodes State Office Tower was cleaned this past weekend.
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No Legionella bacteria has been found in the water at the 41-story Downtown building along E. Broad Street, a state official said Wednesday.
“The Rhodes Tower houses more than 3,000 employees and in a building of this size and age, it is possible that a test will find some form of Legionella bacteria. If we learn of any risk to employees, we will be transparent and inform them,” Tom Hoyt, spokesman for the Department of Administrative Services, wrote in an email.
Hoyt said the state cannot confirm any illness or comment on an employee’s health. Asked if the cleaning of the hot-water system was coincidental or related to the worker’s illness, Hoyt said, “We chlorinate the system periodically.”
The Dispatch learned that the ill DAS employee is a 56-year-old Fairfield County woman. Her mother confirmed Wednesday that her daughter was hospitalized about a week ago and diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease. “She’s still out of it, but doing a lot better,” her mother said.
The Fairfield Department of Health is investigating a case of Legionnaire’s disease to determine its origin, said nursing director Gwen Shafer. She declined to provide other details.