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62-year-old veteran shares pictures of ‘filthy’ conditions at McGuire Hospital

Posted at 6:12 PM, Jan 04, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-07 16:08:09-05

RICHMOND, Va. – An Army veteran encountered several conditions at McGuire Veteran’s Hospital that he called troubling, and for which he said there was “no excuse at all.” He contacted the CBS 6 Problem Solvers, and sent pictures of a filthy bathroom inside the hospital.

The veteran, who asked not to be identified because he makes multiple trips each month to the hospital for treatment, said that what he has seen there in three years was nothing compared to what he experienced during a Dec. 30 visit.

An Army veteran encountered several condition at McGuire Veteran’s Hospital that he called troubling.

An Army veteran encountered several condition at McGuire Veteran’s Hospital that he called troubling.

The 62-year-old man, a former Army Sergeant, said he walked into the spinal cord injury area of the hospital, towards the first bathroom, but inside the doorway, he was hit by a smell.

"Porta-Potties didn't smell as bad as this,’ he said. "A gentleman that was going to use it, he went in, turned around, immediately turned around and said, you don't want to go in there."

"Even porta-potties look better than that and the smell was, well with the door open, the smell was overwhelming,” he said.

He searched for another restroom to use before his appointment, and again encountered poor sanitation, and also broken equipment.

An Army veteran encountered several condition at McGuire Veteran’s Hospital that he called troubling.

An Army veteran encountered fecal matter on the floor at McGuire Veteran’s Hospital.

"I just saw a little bit of fecal matter on the floor,” he said.

Undeterred he used the bathroom.

"When I went to wash my hands, I noticed the sink doesn't work,” he said.

Then, as he turned to walk out, he noticed there was no door handle.

"I noticed there's no door handle on the door, so first I thought I was stuck in there, until I remembered they all have a disabled button, so that's how I got out of there,” he said.

A picture shows no handle on the door at McGuire Hospital.

A picture shows no handle on the door at McGuire Hospital.

He said that he notified someone at the hospital of the problems, but said the issue had not been resolved when he left three hours later.

“As always our goal is to maintain all of our public restrooms at the highest standard, that's an ongoing operation,” said a spokesperson for the hospital. “With over two million square feet of space and hundreds of public restrooms, we will continually work to meet the highest standards of cleanliness as well as our guest expectations.”

McGuire also said that the appreciate input from their guests.

A representative for McGuire later said one of the toilets in question was broken and that a plumber had  already been contacted to repair it.

However, the restroom had not been roped off as "out of service."

The McGuire representative also said the veteran should not have had access to the other bathroom because it wasn't for public use.

The CBS 6 Problem Solvers are here to help. Just contact us at 804-254-3672, or email us with details.

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