Seattle veterans clinic faces complaints over leaks, ventilation

Deteriorating conditions 

South of Seattle’s downtown, atop Beacon Hill, is the sprawling 44-acre VA campus. It’s the largest medical facility in the VA Puget Sound system, with over 600,000 patient visits in 2022. 

The campus got a $122 million addition in 2019. The boxy glass tower glistens above a sea of beige and white buildings, some of which date back more than 70 years — including Building 18, which has housed medical clinics since at least 1997, according to the VA. For years, including through COVID, it housed the South Clinic.

In 2017, the VA “ceased putting significant funds into maintaining a building that was going to be demolished in the ‘very near future,’” according to VA documents. The building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system was flagged for replacement as far back as 2004, with one assessment describing it as “failing.” 

Hopkins, who began working at the VA in February 2020, said he does not remember having a working HVAC system in the building. Two other staffers also recalled that it stopped working before COVID. 

Douglas Galuszka, chief of logistics, said he remembers the uncomfortable working conditions. In the winter, staffers wore their coats. In the summer, when inside temperatures could reach 90 degrees, staff opened windows and brought in fans.

The VA stated in an email that the building’s heating and cooling systems are operable, though, due to age, they are often unable to keep up with more intense temperature variation. 

An HVAC system also circulates air. The VA determined in December 2021 that the HVAC failed to meet air-exchange requirements, according to Hayes. The agency’s HVAC design manual stipulates that air needs to be replaced by circulation six times per hour in patient care rooms. For office spaces, it’s four times per hour. 

An air flow reading done by the VA in the South Clinic on May 18, 2022, found that of nine rooms tested, only one met VA requirements. The report specifically called out the lack of exhaust in the locations tested: “What is particularly noteworthy is that there is zero exhaust from any of the rooms.” 

“The ability for the building HVAC system to maintain an acceptable air-exchange rate was one of the driving factors behind our decision to demolish,” Hayes wrote in an email. “While not achieving optimal air exchange rate, the HVAC is operational.”

To make up for the lack of required airflow during the pandemic, the VA said that the agency implemented measures such as physical distancing. 

Hopkins and Galuszka said they suspect the lack of air exchange may have contributed to building staff members catching COVID-19 multiple times. During the pandemic, the respiratory virus sent at least two logistics staffers to the hospital, they said. 

Other issues arose. Pest control was needed to get rid of ants, according to Hopkins, and a tree began growing through the floor of the building in the offices. He said staffers blocked it with a filing cabinet. 

Then came mold, several staffers relayed. They said they started seeing what looked like “black mold” in the office space in May 2023. Galuszka’s pictures taken that summer show a dusting of a dark and powdery substance coating a ceiling vent and streaking down the side of a urinal. 

The mold was a major concern to Galuszka, who said he worried that without proper air exchange, mold could proliferate across the building and cause respiratory issues. 

“I just can’t see how that could be a healthy environment for anybody to be in,” Galuszka said.

The VA hired an outside company to test for mold on June 26, 2023. Results obtained by NWPB and Cascade PBS showed that the indoor air samples had significantly lower total spore counts compared to the baseline samples taken outside the building. The test found no evidence of black mold or air quality issues. 

This was the only mold test taken at the building in 2023, according to a records request made to the VA.

If mold is seen or smelled, it should be removed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency’s website states that you cannot rely on sampling to determine if someone will become sick, as health effects of mold can be different for everyone. There are no set standards for acceptable quantities of mold in a home. 

“You can see the black mold in the carpet, in the toilets and the urinals,” Hopkins said. “It’s so bad you have to go to a different building to use the bathroom.”