Nearly 2,400 people treated at an Oregon hospital may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis and other blood-borne diseases after anesthesiologists administered improper medications.
Providence, which provides health care services in multiple states, Thursday’s statement
“It has come to our attention recently that Providence’s comprehensive infection control protocols may not have been followed by physicians during some procedures performed at Portland-area hospitals,” the statement read. Those hospitals include Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center and Providence Portland Medical Center. Providence has notified “approximately 2,200 patients” seen at the former facility and two patients seen at the latter medical center about this potential risk.
Additionally, the doctor also practices at a Legacy Health hospital called Legacy Mt. Hood Medical Center. “We are in the process of sending letters to notify 221 patients who may have been affected,” a Legacy spokesperson said in an emailed statement to LiveScience.
Related: About 450 hospitalized patients in Massachusetts may have been infected with hepatitis or HIV
The doctor was an anesthesiologist with the Oregon Anesthesiology Group (OAG), which is affiliated with hospitals and outpatient surgery centers in western Oregon.
“After learning that the physician violated infection control practices, we suspended him, notified our partners, Legacy Health and Providence, and initiated an investigation, which resulted in the physician’s termination,” an OAG spokesperson told LiveScience in an email. “While the risk of infection was low, new procedures and protocols have been put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
The doctor’s name has not been released, The Associated Press reported.
The anesthesiologist’s actions placed the patient at “low risk.” Various blood infections
“As a precaution, we are encouraging these patients to undergo free blood testing to check for the aforementioned infections,” Providence said. Patients who test positive will be notified and guided on next steps.
Legacy Health stressed that “this was an isolated situation involving a single provider.” The anesthesiologist was under contract to work at a Legacy facility for approximately six months, beginning in December 2023.
The health system’s statement did not specifically say how safety protocols were violated, but the Oregon Health Authority told The Associated Press that the investigation was centered on the anesthesiologist who administered the intravenous injection. anesthesia
Healthcare facilities typically have strict standards for how they sterilize equipment such as needles and syringes before using them on a particular patient, and the same needle and syringe are never allowed to be used on more than one person.
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