Tech in NH hepatitis C case worked in Mich., Md.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Health officials say a man accused of causing a hepatitis C outbreak in New Hampshire previously worked in Maryland and Michigan.
 
A spokesman for The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore says David Kwiatkowski worked in the cardiac catheterization lab there from July 2009 to January 2010 and in least three other Maryland hospitals as well.

The four hospitals are Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Southern Maryland Hospital, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Maryland General Hospital.
 
The Michigan Department of Community Health says Kwiatkowski also worked in that state, and officials are working to determine where.
 
Kwiatkowski, a traveling lab technician, was charged Thursday with federal drug crimes. He's accused of stealing anesthetic drugs from Exeter Hospital, injecting himself and contaminating syringes that were later used on patients, 30 of whom were later diagnosed with hepatitis C.

Johns Hopkins officials say they have no clusters or unusual groupings of hepatitis C patients during the time frame of when Kwiatkowski was employed there. Infectious disease experts are continuing their investigation into whether any hospital patients were exposed.

During the time of Kwiatkowski employment, records show that about 200 patients may have had procedures performed in the same lab where he worked. As a precaution, the hospital is in the process of contacting those patients and offering them free testing and counseling as needed.

Staff members have established a toll-free number for patients who had a cardiac catheterization procedure performed during the timeframe to call with any questions of and potential exposure.

That number is now operational and staff can be contacted at 1-855-546-3785.

According to the Maryland Hospital Association, the four Maryland hospitals where Kwiatkowski worked as a medical technician have been working closely with the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene to share information and to determine any patients who may have been exposed or harmed.

Kwiatkowski's employment history is also being examined to determine if he worked at any other hospitals other than those already identified.