At least 96 students were treated by the Georgetown University Hospital or the Student Health Center for gastroenteritis from Tuesday night and Wednesday. Speaking to an audience of student and local reporters in the Leavey Center yesterday afternoon, Todd Olson, the Vice President of Student Affairs, said that the “clear common denominator” amongst all the students was that they had dined at the Leo O’Donovan Cafeteria.
On Wednesday, Leo’s did not open. Staff workers and DPS officers turned students away for all three meals.
As students swarmed the hospital on Tuesday night, both rooms and doctors became scarce.
Neil McGroarty (NHS `12), arrived at the emergency room at around 10:30 p.m., only hours after eating a roast beef sandwich from Grab N’ Go. He said within hours of arriving at the Hospital, the emergency room was backed up to the point that students who weren’t receiving medical attention began vomiting in the waiting room.
“I know that some people in the waiting room had been there for three hours. There was a boy yelling ‘help me, help me!’ but there were no doctors,” Kathrin Verestoun (SFS `11), who accompanied her roommate to the emergency room, said. “They ran out of rooms and set up stretchers in the hall. Some people were so dehydrated that they couldn’t find their veins for IVs. They were just bleeding. [My roommate] bled all over her stretcher.”
Hospital employees declined to comment.
Georgetown administrators, and the D.C. Department of Health would not yet speculate as to whether students contracted food-borne illnesses from Leo’s. Together, they have launched an investigation into the cause of the illnesses.
However, a Food Establishment Inspection Report obtained by the Voice through a Freedom of Information Act request reveals that in June, the D.C. Bureau of Community Hygiene determined that Leo’s’ handwashing facilities were not up to code, although this was “corrected on-site.” According to the report, sinks used for hand-washing in the service area lacked handsoap.
Since receiving the first call they received at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Service increased the number of people they keep on staff per hour from four to ten.
While they usually receive one to two calls in an overnight period, Taylor Burkholder (MSB `09), the director of public relations for GERMS, said that as of 2:00 p.m. yesterday GERMS had received 35 calls from students who were “vomiting, nauseous, dehydrated, or had diarrhea.”
The actual number of students who have fallen ill may be far higher than reported. Interviews have revealed that many students who fell ill did not get medical help, like Katie O’Niell (COL `11), who began to vomit about three hours after eating a burrito at Leo’s.
“I didn’t feel like I could make it any further than from my bed to the bathroom,” she said.
Roommates Adha Mengis (COL `11) and Will McMahon (MSB `11) both decided to “tough it out,” said Mengis, despite McMahon being violently ill.
Resident assistants emailed students on their floors midday yesterday, encouraging them to call GERMS if they felt the symptoms of gastroenteritis. An R.A. who wished to remain anonymous said that it is possible that housing directors were hoping to encourage students who were not seeking medical attention to do so.
The foods eaten by the ill students varied widely, from Grab N’ Go’s Hoya Wraps and roast beef sandwiches to make-your-own pasta and burritos.
Yesterday in the Leavey Center, students could use their meal plans to get food from the Center Grill.
Food was scarce at Vital Vittles, where employee Laura Tubridy (COL `10) said that while sandwiches stocked in the morning usually last throughout the day without restocking, today they restocked sandwiches early in the day. The wait for food at Wisey’s also increased.
Leo’s will remain closed for an indefinite period of time.
“We will not reopen Leo’s until we know what is at issue,” Olson said.
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