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Officials at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center provided more details on Monday of an outbreak of COVID-19 within the hospital that resulted in several mostly unvaccinated patients and health workers testing positive for the virus.
Chief medical officer Dr Lawrence Neville confirmed at a press conference that the number of positive cases remained at 14 – 10 patients and four health workers – and that the outbreak is limited to a room on the second floor of the Mother Joseph building of the hospital.
Of the 14 positive COVID-19 cases detected, only five are fully vaccinated. Neville also added that only one of the four health workers who test positive is fully vaccinated. Two are unvaccinated and another received his first dose of the vaccine, Neville said.
Symptoms of unvaccinated patients who tested positive range from mild to severe, Neville said, and none required a transfer to the intensive care unit.
PeaceHealth does not require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
When asked to explain why, Neville said most healthcare systems don’t require staff to be vaccinated.
He said, however, that this latest exhibition is “taking a break”.
Neville did not say whether the decision by health care providers not to be vaccinated stems from political divisions or medical debates. Instead, he said, there is a “diversity of healthcare workers with different options and different sources of information for vaccine safety.”
He added that he believed the medical community supported the COVID-19 vaccination, but that is not yet a universal opinion.
“We value our relationship with our caregivers and we continue to engage in dialogue with them,” Neville said. He said other strategies were being considered to make staff vaccinations mandatory, but he was unable to elaborate on what those efforts might be.
Legacy Health Systems also does not require vaccination for employees. A spokesperson for Legacy said its system followed a 1989 Oregon state law prohibiting employers in the Oregon healthcare industry from requiring vaccinations as a condition of employment. This also includes Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center.
Officials are now investigating what led to the PeaceHealth outbreak, which began with a patient testing positive for COVID-19 after being admitted to hospital on July 10. Neville said the individual initially tested negative for the virus, but as an “extra layer of protection.” All patients undergo further testing during their stay. This person tested positive on July 11.
Catherine Kroll, director of infection prevention at PeaceHealth, said the hospital had identified and notified 44 patients who may have been exposed or named as close contacts.
This is the first outbreak at the hospital since January, when 19 patients and 11 staff tested positive for COVID-19. As in January, Clark County Public Health is once again working closely with PeaceHealth on this latest outbreak.
‘Alarm clock’
Clark County Public Health Officer Dr Alan Melnick said the situation is another reminder that the pandemic is far from over and that vaccinations are making a difference.
Nationally, the number of cases continues to rise, and with it comes the new delta variant. Neville and Melnick said everyone in this latest outbreak is being tested for the delta variant and other possible unknown variants. In Washington, Melnick said the delta variant was responsible for 41% of current cases.
“The best protection against COVID is vaccination,” Melnick said.
As a precaution against the epidemic, the hospital temporarily stops all visitors and stops new admissions to the department. Neville echoed Melnick in talking about the importance of vaccines, and he strongly encouraged those who are not vaccinated to get vaccinated.
“The energy around vaccinations needs to increase – even more than it has already done,” Neville said.
He concluded by saying, “If a place as safe as PeaceHealth Southwest, with extraordinary experience in caring for COVID patients, and an extraordinary public safety record can have an outbreak like this, it really shows that we are all extremely vulnerable to the re-emergence of COVID.
“It really is a red flag; if it can happen here, it can happen anywhere.
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