State: Nassau can't use public health lab

Nassau County can no longer use its public health lab to test for communicable diseases because it does not have a properly credentialed director, state officials said.

The prior director, Rodger Silletti, who was laid off in December, has not been replaced nor has the county announced an alternate plan for its routine clinical testing.

County Legis. Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck), a member of the legislature's health and social services committee, said she is concerned about the apparent lack of a plan. "We deserve to have a county that is going to provide for public health," she said. "It seems to me you can't cut so close to the bone that we can't provide for basic services."

The county refused to talk about the lab except to say that the health department "is evaluating all laboratory processes in the public health laboratory as a means of becoming more efficient and streamlined."

Silletti, who has a doctorate in molecular biology and certification by the American Board of Medical Microbiology, had the credentials to run both the clinical section, which tests for communicable diseases such as sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis, and the environmental part of the lab, which tests for contaminants in water, soil and air.

With Silletti's departure the lab was left with no one properly certified to run the clinical section, including Health Commissioner Lawrence Eisenstein. Department spokeswoman Mary Ellen Laurain said last month he had taken over the lab.

For a short period, while the county either looked for another director or came up with an alternate plan, Nassau could send clinical specimens for testing to the state's Wadsworth lab outside Albany, county and state officials said.

But as of Feb. 29, Nassau, because it did not replace Silletti, lost its certification to operate the clinical section, state health officials said. The state Health Department also has informed Nassau that Wadsworth will not be able to perform its clinical testing, department spokesman Peter Constantakes said.

The environmental section continues to operate "in full compliance" with state regulations, the county said.

County plans unclear

The county has not announced its plans for how routine communicable disease testing will be handled. Many counties in the state, including Suffolk, contract out those specimens to commercial labs. But Nassau has used its own lab for routine testing.

Constantakes called clinical lab testing "an important aspect of protecting public health" but said "there are many options, including the use of private labs, that meet local needs for testing specimens."

The county health department said this week, "Due to pending litigation, Nassau County Department of Health is unable to respond to Newsday's inquiry regarding the Public Health Laboratory. Public health is not impacted by changes that may have occurred at the lab."

Silletti, who declined to comment, and two others laid off from the lab are part of a class-action grievance filed by the Civil Service Employees Association, said Ryan Mulholland, spokesman for CSEA Nassau Local 830. The union has filed a second grievance for Silletti claiming that his position has been taken by a nonunion worker.

Silletti and five others lost their jobs at the 17-person lab as part of the county's effort to balance its budget, union officials said.

Under state Department of Health regulations, the lab's environmental section can be headed by someone with a minimum of 24 college credits in chemistry and two years' lab experience. But to run the clinical section, the person must either be a pathologist, have a doctoral degree and board certification or, for physicians other than pathologists, four years' experience in the lab.

Public health needs cited

CSEA Local 830 president Jerry Laricchiuta said the county should make clear its plan for future testing. "They shouldn't drag their feet on this," he said. "They should move forward. We still have a county to run. Public health is a basic function."

Victor Waddell, president of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, said, "The funding pressures confronting the public health laboratory in Nassau County are very similar to the pressures that challenge many state and local laboratories."

"It is incumbent that county officials now ensure that the changes they implement will meet the public health needs of their citizens," he said.

Testing at Nassau's public health lab

The clinical lab tests for communicable diseases such as:

--Tuberculosis

--Sexually transmitted diseases, including gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis and HIV

--Viruses, including hepatitis B, measles, mumps

--Other public health threats such as meningitis

The environmental lab tests:

--Beach water

--Drinking water from the tap

--Water from sewage treatment plants

--Lead at day care centers

--Soil lead and mercury

Source: Nassau County Department of Health annual report, 2009