United States: In a shocking incident, an Oregon-based anesthesiologist was suspended after he allegedly exposed several patients of Portland-area hospitals to infectious diseases.
More about the news
According to KGW8, there are more than 2,000 patients from Providence Portland Willamette Falls Medical Center and Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center, located in the Portland area, have reportedly been exposed to HIV and Hepatitis.
As the outlet reported, Legacy Health, a hospital operator where some of its facilities have been impacted, would send letters to around 221 impacted patients.
As per the reports, the “infection control breach” was done by a third-party anesthesiologist who was working on a contract basis via the Oregon Anesthesiology Group.
It is stated that the doctor has been providing its services at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center for the past six months, starting in December 2023.
What have the hospital officials stated?
Legacy Health states, “Upon learning of this situation, we immediately suspended the provider and launched a comprehensive investigation in accordance with regulations and with our policies and procedures,” as independent.co.uk reported.
The organization confirmed that the outbreak originated via just one medical professional, who has been suspended and is no longer working with the anesthesiology group.
The KGW8 reported since the incident, Legacy has been switched to another provider, leading to several hundreds of surgeries being delayed.
Although the organizations have not yet revealed the full details of the process through which direct exposure to the diseases took place, Providence said that their patients were “at a low risk of exposure” to hepatitis B and C and HIV.
The company stated, “Out of an abundance of caution, we are encouraging these patients to get a blood test to screen for the aforementioned infections at no cost. If a patient tests positive, Providence will reach out to discuss their test results and next steps,” as independent.co.uk reported.
“Patient safety is our number one priority, and our patients are fully committed to a thorough review of this issue and appropriate action,” it added.
What is the statement by the company?
When Oregon Anesthesiology Group, the company that had employed the anesthesiologist, was questioned, it said, “The safety of our patients is our top priority. When we learned that the physician had violated infection control practices, we suspended him, informed our partners, Legacy Health and Providence, and began an investigation that resulted in the physician’s termination,” as independent.co.uk reported.
“Even though the risk of infection was low, new protocols and procedures have been put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future,” it added.