AURORA, Colo. — The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is demanding access into the Aurora ICE Processing Center and the medical records of a detainee diagnosed with tuberculosis, giving the facility until Friday to comply.
The full letter from the CDPHE is below.
CDPHE laid out the request in a July 14 letter to Warden Juan Baltazar and Health Administrator Anhtuan Pham of The GEO Group, which manages the facility in Adams County. The letter, signed by CDPHE Executive Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan, asks GEO to "immediately provide the access, records, and information needed to conduct the public health investigation of a confirmed case of active tuberculosis disease" at the facility.
According to the letter, the Adams County Health Department and the Denver Health Tuberculosis Clinic notified CDPHE they encountered barriers to conducting the required investigation. CDPHE says those barriers are preventing officials from determining the scope of potential exposure and protecting detainees, employees, contractors, visitors, people who have been transferred or released, and others who may have been exposed.
Denver7 reached out to the Denver Health Tuberculosis Clinic, which provided the following statement.
"The Denver Health Tuberculosis (TB) Program plays a critical role as the primary provider of TB care for the seven-county metro area. The TB Program works in partnership with local public health agencies, CDPHE, and others including correctional/detention facilities to diagnose, treat and support people with TB and help prevent the spread of TB.
As the Adams County Health Department has indicated, we have not been permitted to communicate with GEO staff regarding patient care or evaluation of individuals who may have been exposed to TB in the facility. We are working through the appropriate channels to gain access to the facility and the patient.
TB requires specialized care and public health intervention. Our TB Program clinicians, nurses and outreach workers stand ready to perform our essential public health role to help protect the health of individuals detained in the facility, the staff, and the broader community."
The letter states CDPHE is aware of one confirmed case of active tuberculosis at the facility. It also notes media reports have alleged other active cases there, but public health officials have not confirmed any additional cases.
The Denver Health Tuberculosis Clinic was able to speak with the patient one time, according to the letter, but clinic and county health staff have not had access to the facility to assess the situation, review medical records or conduct a contact investigation.
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CDPHE cites several state laws and regulations giving it the authority to investigate, including Colorado Revised Statutes requiring state and local health agencies to investigate all reported or suspected TB cases.
The letter lists five specific actions CDPHE wants GEO to take by July 17:
- Turn over all medical records for the patient diagnosed with TB
- Turn over records for any other staff or detainees screened or tested for TB since that patient arrived at the facility
- Provide the information needed for contact tracing
- Allow CDPHE, the tuberculosis clinic and county health staff into the facility to conduct a disease control investigation
- Provide any additional records CDPHE deems necessary as the investigation continues
Joy Athanasiou is an immigration attorney whose client is being held at the processing center.
"I am gravely concerned," Athanasiou said. "I'd like to see ICE obey the law."
Athanasiou wants ICE and GEO Group to follow the state's public health rules and meet Friday's deadline. She said public health authorities need to be let inside to do their jobs.
"Allow our public health authorities into the facility, and they need to test every single person in that facility, and they need to do contact tracing," she said.
An ICE spokesperson has repeatedly told Denver7 the facility currently has no confirmed active TB cases.
A spokesperson provided the following statement: "As of today, Aurora does not have any confirmed active tuberculosis (TB) cases. Should a TB case be confirmed, the individual would be maintained under appropriate medical isolation precautions, including placement in a negative-pressure room when clinically indicated and available, to minimize the risk of transmission in accordance with established infection-control practices and clinical guidance. The detention facility has complied with all federal CDC guidelines and policies on communicable disease, as well as with Colorado law, guidelines, and policies on the same. There was one case of TB on June 25, and the detainee was treated, cleared, and removed from the country."
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Doctors who work with infectious diseases say contact tracing is essential in situations like this to prevent further spread.
Martin Krsak is a physician specializing in infectious diseases. He said identifying exposed contacts matters because those people could unknowingly be developing symptoms. "
"Any sort of contacts that may have been exposed and who now therefore may be en route to developing symptoms and disease could potentially then spread this further in their communities," Krsak said.
Denver7 asked CDPHE what happens if the facility does not meet Friday's deadline.
A spokesperson told Denver7 protecting everyone connected to the facility is its top priority and that its goal right now is simply to gain access to determine whether there is an outbreak.
"If we are unable to obtain the necessary access and information, we will determine appropriate next steps," CDPHE said in a statement.
As of Thursday, it remained unclear whether GEO Group or ICE would grant CDPHE access to the facility or the detainee's medical records by Friday's deadline.
