St. Charles Redmond Reports COVID-19 Outbreak; 31 caregivers involved

State, investigating county health investigator; still limited hospital visits

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The Saint-Charles Health System said Wednesday evening it reported an outbreak of COVID-19 cases on the campus of Saint-Charles Redmond Hospital in Deschutes County and the state of ‘Oregon, affecting more than 30 caregivers.

As of Wednesday, 31 caregivers had tested positive for COVID-19, and their cases are being investigated in conjunction with Deschutes County Health Departments and the Oregon Health Authority, the hospital system said.

An epidemic is defined as a group of related cases.

“We are taking all possible measures to stop the spread of the virus, to protect our patients and our caregivers,” said Aaron Adams, general manager of Redmond Hospital.

In addition to existing COVID-19 precautions, St. Charles said the Redmond hospital has new safety measures in place, including:

• Offer COVID-19 test to all caregivers at St. Charles Redmond Hospital
• Asking caregivers to stay home and get tested if they have symptoms of COVID-19, no matter how mild
• Increased air exchange to six times per hour
• Increased air filtration to more than CDC recommendation (+ 90% filtration at 0.3 microns)
• Give caregivers direct patient care roles to use N95 respirators and eye protection throughout their shift while the outbreak is ongoing
• Addition of hand sanitizer and cleaning products to more locations in the facility
• Ask caregivers to eat in the cafeteria or on the outdoor patio rather than in the break rooms
• Added maximum capacity signage to all break rooms and conference rooms to ensure physical distance is maintained

The hospital also currently limits visitors to the following groups only:

• A caregiver or attendant of a patient who needs help because of a language barrier or the patient’s disability, whether this disability is physical, developmental, intellectual, cognitive, behavioral or related to impaired language mental or communication state, the presence of which will help the person with the disability to receive treatment, to ensure the safety of the patient or facility staff, or who needs to participate in activities of daily living
• A close family member of a patient undergoing end-of-life care as determined by the medical provider in charge of the patient’s 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 should be granted access

“We hope our community understands and will help us by following all COVID-19 restrictions, both inside and outside our facilities,” Adams said. “The number of positive COVID-19 cases continues to be high across the region, and we need your help to ensure we have a healthy workforce to take care of you and your health. your relatives.