A few weeks after he underwent a medical procedure requiring intravenous anesthesia at Legacy Mt. Hood Medical Center in Gresham, Anthony Laszlo was troubled when he received a letter in the mail from the hospital suggesting he may have spread an infection to other patients.
Laszlo said he received a follow-up call from his doctor in early June, about three weeks after the surgery.
“They asked me to get tested to make sure I wasn’t patient zero,” Laszlo said. “The letter said I was not at risk.”
A second letter, received this week, paints a different picture, saying that “infection control failures” may have exposed Laszlo and other patients to one of several infectious diseases. Both letters recommend that Laszlo be tested immediately for HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C, and then two more over the next few weeks.
Legacy and Providence Health & Services announced the move last week. Healthcare workers involved in about 2,400 surgeries and other procedures may have exposed patients to the infection over a six-year period. The hospital chain offered few details, saying only that the risk of infection was “low.” Infected patients will receive letters with more information and how to proceed, it said.
Providence said the health care worker was contracted through Portland-based Oregon Anesthesiology Group and worked at two of its hospitals from 2017 until last November. Legacy said the health care worker worked at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham from December until May.
The announcement affects 2,200 patients at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City, 221 patients at Legacy Mount Hood and two patients at Providence Portland Medical Center in northeast Portland, according to the hospital chain.
Laszlo said the conflicting and lack of information has left him frustrated and anxious.
“To be honest, I’m worried about a lot of things right now, including my health,” Laszlo said.
The letters now being sent to patients add new details to what the two hospital chains had previously released.
In the first letter, dated June 3, Legacy Mount Hood officials told Laszlo they had contacted him because there had been “potential breaches of infection control practices” when he had surgery at the hospital. The letter said the hospital had determined there was a “low risk of infection to other patients” after Laszlo’s surgery in May.
“This issue does not affect your health,” the letter continued. “Our concern is that other patients may have been exposed to your blood or bodily fluids. We ask for your cooperation.”
The June letter also asked Laszlo to undergo free testing for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. The hospital wants Laszlo to get tested immediately “to determine if he is at risk,” it said.
“I got tested right away and the results came back negative,” Laszlo said. “I thought I was OK.”
On Monday, Laszlo received a second letter from Legacy Hospital, again stating that hospital officials “learned of possible violations of infection control practices” during a surgery in May.
But the letter said Laszlo may have been infected: “We do not know if this violation of the rules caused the disease, but it is possible that this action may have exposed him to infection,” it added.
“In your first letter you said there was no way I could have been infected,” he said. “I thought you were worried I might have been the source of infection, and now you’re saying I could have been?”
Legacy Health recommends that patients get blood tests for HIV and Hepatitis B and C viruses at least three times: immediately after exposure, four months after possible exposure, and six months after possible exposure.
Meanwhile, a Providence spokesperson said the health system has sent letters to affected patients, who should receive them this week.
A copy of the letter provided by Providence also encourages patients to get tested for HIV and Hepatitis B and C.
Providence said it “recently learned” that a physician employed by Oregon Anesthesiology Group may not have been following “Providence’s comprehensive infection control practices.”
“Because the infection at Providence is not that recent, infected Providence patients will only need one blood test instead of three,” said Gene Marks, a spokeswoman for Providence Hospital.
Both hospital chains offer free blood tests through LabCorp, a contract medical testing chain.
The nature of the violations remains unclear; neither hospital chain has provided details.
Oregon Health Authority officials said only doctors were involved in surgeries and other procedures that require intravenous anesthesia.
State health officials said last week that there were no cases and that the Oregon Health Authority’s Hospital Infection Control Program was assisting the hospital with its investigation.
Providence cuts affiliation with Oregon Anesthesiology Group Providence ended its 33-year contract with the physician-owned practice last year, a move that came after Providence said surgeries were being canceled or postponed due to a shortage of anesthesiologists.
After losing its contract with Providence, Oregon Anesthesiology Group was hired by Legacy.
Laszlo, a patient at Legacy Mount Hood Hospital, said the test was a preventative test but the hospital charged him $1,100.
He said hospitals should strive to provide more information to the public and patients.
“I feel like they’re completely disconnected from reality and the patient experience,” he said. “They’re leaving us to draw our own conclusions.”
Legacy did not respond to emailed questions about the two letters Laszlo received, but hospital officials said in a statement that they “understand and empathize with the stress this situation has caused affected patients.”
Laszlo said he wondered if he had put his family at risk, according to the Legacy website. The hospital said in a message to patients: “We are committed to paying for the costs of undergoing any necessary testing, and will also pay for testing for family members if they are infected or test positive for the virus,” the company said.
A letter Providence sent to patients said hospital officials are “working to determine how this happened.”
He suggested a “review” was underway involving the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Oregon Health Authority.
— Christine de Leon We cover news for the retail industry, small business and data enterprise. Contact us at email address
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