Legionella Prevention Measures at Downstate

By Office of Communications & Marketing | Jul 20, 2026

TO: The Downstate Community
FROM: James Minto, Vice President for FM&D
DATE: July 21, 2026
RE: Legionella Prevention Measures at Downstate

As many of you are aware, New York City is currently responding to a Legionnaires' disease outbreak affecting parts of Manhattan. That outbreak has not been linked to our campus, but it is a good moment to update the Downstate community on the work already in place, and underway, to protect our campus water systems.

Under President Riley's leadership, Downstate has taken a proactive approach to water safety for several years now, and that work continues today. All cooling towers associated with SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University are registered with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), and a rigorous testing and treatment program is in place to prevent the growth and spread of legionella. Our cooling towers are tested for the presence of Legionella monthly, with results reported to NYSDEC as required by law.  Facilities Management & Development (FM&D) performs regular monitoring of the cooling towers which allows FM&D staff to catch problems early and act quickly, before they can develop.

We are pleased to report that no legionella was detected in any campus cooling tower during our most recent round of sampling and testing. At President Riley's direction, FM&D has also completed installation of continuous monochloramine injection systems for the domestic hot water systems in BSB, HSEB, PHAB, 811 NYA, and 440, and we are now in the planning stages to extend that same system to the SAB and 825 NY Avenue. Additionally, FM&D has installed more than 35 hydration stations throughout the campus, in BSB, HSEB, SAB, 811 NYA, 825 NYA, 440, and UHD. Each station comes with its own internal Class 1 particulate filtration system, and FM&D adds a supplemental filter to every unit, checking and replacing those filters on a regular basis according to how heavily each station is used.

FM&D is also working on a routine testing schedule for our non-hospital domestic hot water systems, so the same vigor we apply to the cooling towers extends to everyday water as well. We have a continued commitment to campus safety, and I thank my team in FM&D, whose thankless work is often unseen, who work with these systems every day.

We will keep you informed as this work continues, and we thank you for your cooperation and support as we keep our campus safe.