Owen Morgan cleans carpets with a vacuum extractor and shampoo during his shift at Harborview Medical Center on August 20, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by David Ryder / Getty Images)
A group of workers in Bremerton’s St. Michael Medical Center says the COVID-19 outbreak may have occurred there if they had better protective equipment and were notified earlier.
To date, there are 45 patients and staff in St. Louis. Michael who has been testing positive for COVID-19 since the beginning of August. St. Michael Medical Center is part of the CHI Franciscan system of hospitals and specialty clinics. The name of the hospital changed to St. Michael of Harrison Medical Center following a recent expansion.
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Fay Gunther with United Food & Commercial Workers Local 21 says the union has filed more than one complaint about personal protective equipment, but the hospital did not respond adequately.
“We discussed workers in Harrison with damaged masks on and that employers were not reporting their PPE adequately,” Gunther said.
“This inability and unwillingness to invest in personal protective equipment puts our workers and their communities at risk,” she added.
A spokesman for the medical center says protective equipment is in high demand worldwide, but at present there is enough PPE at St. Michael and it is offered to all employees.
“In accordance with CDC and public health guidelines to protect health care workers and patients, we provide PPE, including masks and eye protection, to every staff member working in our facilities,” said Cary Evans, Vice President of Communications and Government Affairs at CHI Franeker. “These are not normal times and PPE is in high demand worldwide. CHI Franciscan is currently well equipped with PPE, and we share supplies as needed across facilities. ”
Representatives of the union said the outbreak is poorly managed by the medical center, the health care department, and the Kitsap Public Health District.
“We do not believe that CHI Franciscan, DOH, or Kitsap Public Health have done enough to protect workers and patients,” Sarah Cherin told UFCW Local 21.
“We know August 10, workers had direct contact with a patient and that the workers were not informed,” Gunther added. “It’s just not acceptable that workers are not informed when they are exposed.”
Evans disputes that point, saying CHI Franciscan immediately alerted public health authorities and began contacting staff and patients who were “affected” as soon as the first COVID-19 test result returned positive from a staff member. . The cause of the outbreak and infection is being investigated.
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There are new and ongoing security procedures in place in St. Louis. Michael Medical Center, Evans said, including: informing staff about PPE levels since March on a weekly basis; a process for notifying employees of identified exposures universal masking for everyone in the hospital; proper hand hygiene; screening of all staff, visitors and patients; and testing patients for COVID-19 72 hours for scheduled procedures and all patients for access.
The health care department says it is evaluating workers’ complaints. KIRO Radio reached out to the Kitsap County Health Department for comment, but received no response.
“We need our hospitals to do more, and we need our public health officials to hold them accountable,” Gunther said. “Our whole life depends on it.”
The KIRO Radio Newsdesk contributed to this report.
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