PROVIDENCE Newly released documents prove that the administrators of the state-run Eleanor Slater Hospital knew about leaking oxygen valves for years before declaring an immediate need to relocate oxygen-dependent patients at the Zambarano campus more than a month ago.
Until Friday, there was no answer to the central question they raised: who knew what, when?
In response to initial Journal inquiries in late March, the state agency that runs the hospital referred inquiries to the Department of Administration, which, when asked, was also unable to readily produce any inspection reports on the med gas system that provides oxygen to patients who cannot breathe on their own.