Boston Globe (08/04/12) Patricia Wen

The Joint Commission is reviewing three health care staffing firms it has certified because they placed a traveling medical technician who allegedly infected 30 hospital patients in New Hampshire with hepatitis C. David Kwiatkowski worked at 16 hospitals in eight states during the last five years, even though irregular behavior was cited by two of those facilities. The staffing firms in question are Columbia, MD-based Maxim Staffing Solutions, Phoenix-based SpringBoard Healthcare Staffing, and Omaha, NE-based Triage Staffing. The Joint Commission says these firms must adhere to certain standards, such as verifying workers’ credentials and training, independently verifying their personal references and résumé information, and ensuring they comply with drug-testing rules at the hospitals where they are placed.