By The Associated Press September 13, 2013
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico’s health secretary has resigned after officials revealed that a recent bacteria outbreak forced the temporary closure of a hospital’s intensive care unit.
The secretary, Dr. Francisco Joglar, said in his Friday statement that people’s welfare has always been his priority.
His comments come days after the epidemiology director of the island’s health department said at least 10 patients at the University of Puerto Rico Hospital in the northern city of Carolina were carrying the bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii. All 10 died from May to July, and health officials have said at least eight did not die from a bacterial infection.
Officials asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help investigate at the time, adding that the intensive care unit has since tested negative for the bacteria.
