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Resident raises health, access concerns at Park Apartments; health department testing questioned
Summary
At the Hamilton City Council meeting May 14, a longtime Park Apartments resident told council she had Legionnaires’ disease and said the health department delayed and declined on-site testing; she also described locked building doors and covered intercoms that create access problems for residents with mobility limits.
Tina Jones, a Park Apartments resident, told the Hamilton City Council on May 14 that she was hospitalized with Legionnaires’ pneumonia in January and that she expected the local health department to test her apartment for the source. "The hospital did (report it) January 26," Jones said. She added that the health department did not respond until March 26 and later told her "no further investigation needs to be done."
Jones also said the Park Apartments management recently locked building entrance doors and covered intercom systems, forcing residents to leave their units to admit visitors. "I have 21 stairs," she told council, and said she has an upcoming four-hour surgery that will make climbing stairs difficult. Jones said she was told she would need to hire and pay a licensed contractor for testing rather than have the health department perform it.
A staff member who addressed Jones during the meeting said they are familiar with Park Apartments and the company that operates them and offered to take Jones’s contact information for follow-up. Council member Liz Hayden was named in the reply as the staff contact who would receive the resident's information.
Planning staff and council did not take a formal vote on Jones’s request during the public-comment period. Council members asked for more information and requested staff follow up with Jones. The resident also said she previously volunteered in city programs for 18 years and asked for a meeting to discuss conditions at Park Apartments with the decision-makers.
Why this matters: Jones’s comments touch on two separate municipal responsibilities—public-health surveillance and rental-housing management. The health department’s decision not to conduct on-site testing and questions about responsibility for that testing were raised by the resident; council asked staff to collect information and follow up, but did not direct a formal investigation during the meeting.
The council did not adopt legislation or issue orders on the spot. Jones was told staff would collect her contact information and pursue follow-up.
