An employee of Augusta’s Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center pointed out problems with sterilization of equipment nearly seven months before a patient at the facility noticed a problem. Eventually a national investigation was sparked.

The Augusta Chronicle reports that VA employee David Marana sent an email in April 2008 raising alarm about the sterilization of flexible endoscopes. Marana said the VA was not following standards he had learned from an infection-control conference he’d attended.

Augusta VA officials say the employee was relying on misinformation that would not have corrected the problem.

The national investigation resulted in more than 10,000 veterans being notified they may have been exposed to improperly cleaned equipment.

Tags: sterilization, Augusta's Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, equipment, David Marana, infection-control