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Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Health Officials Explain Temporary Hospital Closure

A meeting is being held tonight at the Saint John Regional Hospital at 7 o'clock to address questions and concerns as to why St Joseph's Hospital was closed for two days.

Dr. David Marr tells CHSJ news a patient who has a rare brain disease was operated on in St Joseph and as a result the operating rooms were heavily sterilized.

The patient has Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, which is fatal and attacks brain tissue.

Dr. Marr adds about $150,000 dollars worth of equipment that was used on the patient was thrown out to make sure there would be no risk of cross contamination.

Dr. Marr says he's reassuring patients that were affected by the hospital closures that they aren't at risk at contracting the rare disease.