A patient died over the weekend after becoming ill at the Bridgeway Care Center in Bridgewater. Now, a nurse at the center says the patient showed symptoms of an illness that was running rampant throughout the facility.

The nurse, who requested to remain anonymous, says some sort of illness was racing through the center during the first half of January. Administrative logs he gave to the I-Team show repeated references to respiratory and gastrointestinal problems. The logs also show staff members calling out sick and at least a dozen patients taken to the hospital.

The nurse claims management at the facility refused to take the situation seriously. Care centers, such as Bridgeway, are required to notify the state health department any time an illness affects 10 percent of the population or more. However, the state says Bridgeway never filed a report.

The Somerset County Health Department says its epidemiologist is now investigating the center. Meanwhile, Bridgeway?s medical director insists the center did nothing wrong. He says the illness was not an epidemic. He adds that patients had run-of-the-mill colds.