‘Taped up plastic face guards’: Nurses, union describe COVID-19 outbreak at hospital
Workers at an area hospital now facing a COVID-19 outbreak said the crisis is a warning for other hospitals in the area.
The workers and their union contend other health networks could soon also face similar situations because of systemwide PPE shortages and resulting lagging safety measures.
In a Tuesday news conference organized by UFCW 21, who represents health care workers at CHI Franciscan’s St. Michael Medical Center in Bremerton, a litany of concerns were raised, including a dire shortage of PPE, employees risking asymptomatic illness, and a lack of transparency from CHI Franciscan in communicating information on everything from supplies to outbreak updates to workers.
In response, the health system told The News Tribune in a statement that it was working in accordance with CDC and public health guidelines, had been in communication with staff and patients affected in the outbreak, and had kept workers in the loop with regular updates.
Those speaking Tuesday to reporters told a different story.
“As recently as yesterday we were on a call with the Department of Health, Kitsap Public Health, and we do not believe that CHI Franciscan, DOH or Kitsap Public Health have been doing enough to protect workers and patients,” said UFCW 21 Executive Vice President, Political and Community Director Sarah Cherin.
In a news conference Monday, officials from the state Department of Health and Kitsap Public Health District said that St. Michael currently had 45 cases involving patients and staff, and the number was likely to grow.
In response to questions on Tuesday, a representative for CHI Franciscan told The News Tribune via email that as of Aug. 25, “approximately 115 employees out of 2,000 at St. Michael Medical Center are currently quarantining while awaiting test results.”
The state first announced news of the outbreak on Friday. In that news release, state DOH noted, “The first case linked to the outbreak was reported late last week. The outbreak has affected multiple units at the hospital. Patients who were discharged from the impacted units have been notified.”
Kitsap Public Health District Health Officer Dr. Gib Morrow said in the Aug. 21 release: “Our team has worked closely with the hospital to notify people who may have been exposed and prevent additional illnesses. We are also coordinating with the Department of Health to provide guidance and support to the hospital. We appreciate St. Michael’s quick action and ongoing cooperation.”
Faye Guenther, president of UFCW 21, said Tuesday, “We know August 10 workers had direct contact with a patient and, and that the workers were not notified.”
She also contended that on Aug. 19, “agents in hazmat suits with CDC across their chest were on site in the Bremerton hospital performing an investigation. Patients and workers in the union were not informed of this infection.”
The Aug. 21 news release noted that the hospital and local health officials had consulted with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In response to questions from The News Tribune, Cary Evans, CHI Franciscan vice president for Communications and Government Affairs, said in a statement: “When the first test result for COVID-19 came back positive from one of our staff at St. Michael Medical Center, we immediately notified public health authorities and began contacting staff and patients who were impacted. We are investigating the cause of the infection, performing contact tracing, increasing testing, and working closely with public health authorities to address the situation as quickly as possible.”
PPE, testing and staffing
St. Michael Health care workers on Tuesday’s call cited lack of PPE and possibly asymptomatic workers risking COVID-19 spread amid severe staffing shortages.
Cindy Franck, a St. Michael nurse and member of UFCW 21, said Tuesday that “issues of safe staffing levels” have increased there and across the state. “Since March … we’ve been trying our best to serve the needs of our patients, but we’ve been fighting an uphill battle. …
“We’ve filled out safety complaints, we’ve called out for proper PPE. We’ve taken donations from other unions.
“We are still in a situation where workers are wearing taped up plastic face guards,” she added. “We’re in a situation where I don’t feel we have enough N95 masks to be safe.”
Staffing shortages from the outbreak, and possible asymptomatic workers showing up to work, along with workers waiting days for test results were also cited as concerns during Tuesday’s news conference.
One worker earlier scheduled to make an appearance at Tuesday’s news conference was instead sick with COVID-19 and in the ER, it was noted during the call, suffering from breathing problems.
Rob Shauger, a CNA and union member who served as backup employee representative in Tuesday’s call, said he was tested for COVID-19 on Thursday, and received his results Tuesday morning — negative.
“I do a lot of community things and I don’t want to get anybody infected. … I think that we need to go to rapid testing as soon as possible for our hospital and for our staff.”
In response, Evans, the vice president from CHI Franciscan, told The News Tribune: “Like every other hospital, we are typically receiving test results within three to five days. We rely on different providers, including the University of Washington, to process our tests.
“In consultation with public health authorities, we are expanding testing to all St. Michael employees who will be tested on a weekly basis.”
Shauger also noted that during the current bargaining talks, he and others have pushed for more transparency and updates on the PPE supply and COVID-19 workplace safety.
“We’ve been bargaining for months now, and we’ve been trying to get it so we can help be part of this,” he said. “We’re trying to, become where we can work with management so we can get an inside track on this so we can help them as an employee, try to help the other employees understand what’s going on.”
In response, Evans said that “CHI Franciscan is well-provisioned with PPE at this time, and we share supplies as needed across facilities.”
“These are not normal times and PPE is in high demand worldwide,” Evans said via email.
When asked what was being done to improve its supply, Evans wrote: “We already have the necessary supplies at this time, including masks, respirators (N95 and CAPR), isolations gowns, gloves and goggles ranging from 38 days to 500+ days,” with staff “informed of PPE levels on a weekly basis since March.”
The accuracy of the information given to the state vs. what workers were experiencing came into question during Tuesday’s news conference.
According to Guenther: “They’re reporting they have enough, but then the workers on the ground, not getting access to it … And so you cannot see into the system. They are hiding where this personal protective supply chain is existing and going.”
Cherin, in Tuesday’s call, noted: “I think the theme we’re getting is there’s a tale of two stories. They may be telling the state they have enough PPE, but that is not the experience that workers are having.”
Part of larger issue
Those attending Tuesday’s news conference, broadcast via Zoom, warned that the problems were systemwide, and that CHI Franciscan wasn’t alone in workplace safety issues.
Guenther noted that the St. Michael outbreak is part of larger issues in the national response to the pandemic.
“I think that there’s blame to go around on the shortage of personal protective equipment. We’ve been trying to raise red flags on this since the day the COVID-19 pandemic started and we had workers having to wear garbage bags and those sorts of things.”
But specifically at St. Michael, she noted, “workers have shared story after story around the supply chain,” of supplies not getting to the workers.
Guenther contended that supply chain problems are not specific to St. Michael.
“I’m not just talking about CHI, I’m talking about Providence; I’m talking about MultiCare; I’m talking about other facilities as well. Investing in personal protective equipment is something that they could choose to do over taking a ton of profits. …”
MultiCare’s communication director, Marce Edwards, told The News Tribune via email that after checking with its supply team, “they report we have no issues with our PPE supplies.”
In March during the pandemic’s first weeks in Pierce County, The News Tribune heard from nurses and other health care workers from both MultiCare and CHI Franciscan citing shortages of PPE and reusing masks.
After months of trying to work in these conditions in the pandemic, Franck said Tuesday: “How many times do health care workers need to cry out for proper protective gear, before things change?”
When asked if Pierce County hospitals under the CHI Franciscan umbrella faced the same risks with outbreaks, Guenther replied:
“We’re getting a lot of complaints from workers and that’s happening in many different work sites around personal protective equipment, so we’re worried outbreaks like this will occur again and again, unless there is a new path forward where workers’ concerns are listened to. We’re concerned about CHI and other facilities within CHI, we’re also worried about other healthcare systems.
“We’re worried this could happen anywhere, anytime workers are not listened to and are not at the center of helping make decisions.”
State Sen. Emily Randall, whose 26th District straddles Kitsap County and a portion of Pierce County, also was on Tuesday’s call.
“Our health care workers are asking for transparency, they’re asking for sufficient testing and contact tracing. They’re asking for assurances that exposed workers, until they receive a negative test result, will be able to safely quarantine. They’re asking for safe staffing levels,” she said.
“The outbreak at St. Michael puts not only the staff and the patients in this hospital, but in our entire community at risk.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 6:10 PM.
