(Update: adding more details from the COO)
State health investigator, county investigating; even more limited hospital visits
BEND, Oregon. (KTVZ) – The St. Charles Health System said on Wednesday that it reported an outbreak of COVID-19 cases on the campus of St. Charles Redmond hospital in Deschutes County and the state of Oregon, affecting more than 30 caregivers.
On Wednesday, 31 caregivers tested positive for COVID-19 and their cases are being investigated in collaboration with Deschutes County Health Services and the Oregon Health Authority, the hospital system said.
An outbreak is defined as a cluster of related cases.
“We are taking all possible measures to prevent the spread of the virus, to protect our patients and caregivers,” said Aaron Adams, executive director of Redmond Hospital.
Iman Simmons, director of operations at St. Charles, told NewsChannel 21 on Wednesday night that 10 of the 31 caregivers received the first of two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. She said that some may have received the second dose, but have not been able to confirm it yet.
Simmons said St. Charles is working with the county and OHA to determine the timing and source of the outbreak.
She said the 31 caregivers will be on paid leave for two weeks, but they must be symptom free and test negative for the virus before returning to work.
In addition to the existing precautions for COVID-19, St. Charles said the Redmond hospital has implemented new security measures, including:
- Offering COVID-19 tests to all caregivers at St. Charles Redmond hospital
- Ask caregivers to stay at home and get tested if they have any symptoms of COVID-19, however mild
- Increasing the air exchange to six times an hour
- Increasing air filtration to more than the CDC recommendation (+ 90% filtration at 0.3 microns)
- Instruct caregivers in direct patient care functions to wear N95 respirators and eye protection throughout the shift, while the outbreak is in progress
- Adding hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies to more locations throughout the facility
- Ask caregivers to eat in the cafeteria or on the outside patio, rather than in rest rooms
- Adding maximum capacity signage to all break rooms and conference rooms to ensure that physical distance can be maintained
The hospital is also limiting visitors to the following groups only:
- A caregiver or attendant of a patient who needs assistance due to a language barrier or disability of the patient, whether that physical, developmental, intellectual, cognitive, behavioral disability or is related to altered mental state or communication, whose presence will help the person with the deficiency in receiving treatment, ensuring the safety of the institution’s patient or staff, or who should assist in the activities of daily living
- A close relative of an end-of-life patient, as determined by the physician in charge of patient care
- A parent or legal guardian of a hospitalized child. If one parent or legal guardian meets the selection criteria, but the other does not, only the parent or legal guardian who meets the selection criteria must be guaranteed access
“We hope that our community understands and helps us by following all COVID-19 restrictions, both inside and outside our facilities,” said Adams. “The number of COVID-19 positive cases remains high across the region and we need your help to ensure that we have a healthy workforce to take care of you and your loved ones.”