Tacoma hospital now reporting 20 COVID cases, 6 of them unrelated to initial outbreak
St. Joseph Medical Center this week announced it was going to expand surveillance testing after more cases of COVID-19 were detected among staff.
On Wednesday, the CHI Franciscan hospital reported two more employee cases of COVID-19, separate from an initial outbreak of 14 cases tied to the building’s seventh floor.
“The second round of surveillance testing discovered two new employee cases. Contact tracing has been completed for these employees, as well as the four additional staff members reported last week. All have been linked to community spread and are not related to the cluster of cases on the seventh floor through known exposure to positive staff or patients,” the hospital said in a statement issued Wednesday.
On Oct. 30, the hospital reported four other cases among staff unrelated to the seventh-floor cluster, bringing to six the total cases unrelated to the seventh-floor outbreak.
The seventh-floor cluster involves 10 employees and four patients. The outbreak was first made public Oct. 22, involving two patients and one worker.
The hospital has been working with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department on case investigations.
The hospital said this week: “Based on the latest guidance from TPCHD, St. Joseph Medical Center is expanding surveillance testing to personnel throughout the hospital, and current patients who have not been tested within the past 48 hours. This increased surveillance testing effort is out of an abundance of caution to help minimize any potential spread.”
The testing has been challenged by unions representing health care workers and service workers at the hospital, contending that employees run the risk of asymptomatic spread.
The hospital has defended the practice, saying surveillance testing, involving those with no known exposure, has been recommended by the health department. Employees are allowed to continue working while awaiting test results.
“We have investigated each positive patient and staff member to identify any staff who may have been exposed and must leave work per CDC guidelines,” the hospital stated in its latest update Nov. 3.
The hospital said the expanded testing will be completed by Nov. 9 “and will include providers, employees, and contracted staff who were present at St. Joseph Medical Center on or after Oct. 16, including all floors of the South Pavilion and the Tower, all hospital-based outpatient clinics, and Walter’s Same Day Surgery Center.”
This story was originally published November 5, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
