By Elizabeth Benton, Register Staff

NEW HAVEN — Seven people, including one dialysis patient, were hospitalized and then released Tuesday following an early morning chemical spill in a dialysis center at the Yale School of Nursing on Church Street South.

One gallon of hydrogen peroxide mixture used to clean dialysis equipment was spilled by crews around 5:30 a.m., according to city spokesman Adam Joseph.

Workers attempted to ventilate the area, which inadvertently caused vinegar-like odors from the spill to spread throughout the building, according to Joseph.

The ground floor of the school, where the DaVita Inc. dialysis center is located, was evacuated.

Six workers were taken to the Hospital of Saint Raphael as a precaution and were released.

A dialysis patient was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital and later released.

“None of our patients had began dialysis at this point, and the spill occurred off the treatment floor,” said DaVita spokeswoman Kelsey Rood. “Although there was a minor disruption in our morning schedule, the facility operations are back up and running.”

Rood said DaVita is investigating the incident. “Any time we have one of these incidents occur, we do a thorough investigation,” she said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection and New Haven’s Health Department were also on scene. “The hazmat crews from the Fire Department took very good care of the problem,” said Paul Kowalski, the city’s director of environmental health.

Elizabeth Benton can be reached at 789-5714 or ebenton@nhregister.com.

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