NH Hospital Expands Testing Clinics For Hepatitis C

EXETER, N.H. (AP) — As it continues to investigate a hepatitis C outbreak, Exeter Hospital is expanding its testing clinics to include a third day.

The hospital is offering testing from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, and from 7 a.m. to noon on Wednesday. Those clinics are in addition to testing clinics being put on by the state.

Thirty-one people so far have tested positive for the same strain of hepatitis C carried by David Kwiatkowski, a former technician who has been charged with stealing drugs from the hospital's cardiac catheterization lab and contaminating needles that were used on patients.

The state-run clinics are set for Tuesday and Wednesday in Plaistow, Wednesday in Rochester and Wednesday through Friday in Manchester. Patients also can go to two Portsmouth Regional Hospital satellite offices.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.