Exeter Hospital CEO Apologizes for Hep C Outbreak

Exeter Hospital CEO Kevin Callahan today apologized for a disastrous hepatitis C outbreak at his hospital that has infected at least 20 people, WMUR-TV reported.

The likely cause of the outbreak was a who was stealing drugs from syringes that were later used on patients. Health officials expect there will be more victims as test results come back on hundreds of patients treated at a lab where the outbreak occurred.

Callahan told WMUR the employee has been associated with the hospital since April 2011. Callahan declined to identify the employee or provide more information on the person.

State investigators have launched a into the incident.

Dr. Richard Hollister, chief of medicine for Exeter Hosptial, joined Callahan today in offering their apologies to the public, WMUR reported.

"We have very robust processes in place to prevent this sort of thing from happening," Hollister told WMUR. "That being said, in an organization where there are over 2,000 employees, and if you have one person in the organization that is doing something illegal, they invariably find a way around those processes."

Added Callahan, "If it is determined that we're responsible for this outbreak, we will be responsible for that cost."

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