UPDATE: Patient from Kirkland care center transferred to Puyallup hospital
An ill patient from a Kirkland senior care facility where several residents have been hit by coronavirus is being treated in the intensive care unit of Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, a hospital spokeswoman confirmed Friday.
The patient, whose age and gender have not been released, was transferred to the hospital Thursday evening, said MultiCare spokeswoman Marce Edwards.
CHI Franciscan, the parent company of Tacoma’s St. Joseph Medical Center, would not confirm or deny that COVID-19 patients were being treated at their Pierce County facilities.
Seattle & King County Health Department announced earlier Friday discussions with Snohomish and Pierce counties about accepting some patients from a Kirkland senior care facility who tested positive for COVID-19, or coronavirus.
Earlier on Friday, Patty Hayes, director of Public Health — Seattle & King County said in a press conference that 15 residents of Life Care Center of Kirkland need to be transferred to hospitals outside Kirkland. They have been diagnosed within the last 24 hours with the respiratory virus.
It is unclear how many patients have been transferred to Pierce County hospitals.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department referred all queries on patient transfers Friday to MultiCare and Quinn Thomas, a public relations firm used by CHI Franciscan.
“In accordance with CHI Franciscan’s policy, we are not confirming suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients except those previously confirmed by the Health Department,” the company said in a statement to The News Tribune.
Edwards said Good Samaritan and MultiCare, which includes Tacoma General Hospital, are ready for COVID-19.
“We have been preparing to take care of patients with symptoms of COVID-19 for months,” Edwards said.
MultiCare is part of the Northwest Healthcare Response Network, a regional group of providers that collaborate in times of disaster or emergency. The patient transfer was made as part of that network, Edwards said.
Hayes told reporters she has been in talks with nearby counties’ public health directors, including in Pierce and Snohomish counties, about dispersing the new cases because EvergreenHealth hospital in Kirkland is not able to take on the surge of new patients.
“It’s such a huge wave we’re having,” Hayes said.
The patients have pre-existing medical conditions and need different kinds of care, so the health departments are looking for specialized hospitals to take them.
“They need to go to the hospitals with the right facilities,” she said.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 10:58 AM.
