Due to possible exposure, hundreds of patients are being ordered to get tested for HIV, hepatitis B and C, and other diseases by anesthesiologist.
Blood tests are being recommended for thousands of patients treated at two hospitals in Portland, Oregon, due to a possible “infection control breach” involving an anesthesiologist that may have exposed them to HIV and hepatitis B and C.
It has been recommended that 2,400 patients of Providence and Legacy Health, two healthcare organizations that may be impacted, get tested “out of an abundance of caution.”
About 2,200 patients at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City and two patients at Providence Portland Medical Center have been notified, according to a statement from the hospital.
A Providence spokeswoman said in a statement that “the physician’s actions might have put patients at a low risk of exposure to possible infections, including hepatitis B and C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)”.
The spokeswoman stated that an employee of the Oregon Anesthesiology Group, a third-party contractor, who worked at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center from December 2023 until May of this year, may have been responsible for any potential exposures.
The unidentified anesthesiologist is no longer with Oregon Anesthesiology Group, the business announced in a statement.
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The business promised to provide the testing at no cost. Providence will get in touch to talk about test findings and next steps if a patient tests positive, according to the statement.
211 people treated at the Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center who may have been affected are being contacted, according to a statement from Legacy Health. Legacy stated that Oregon Anesthesiology Group was connected to “an isolated situation” in this case.
“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,” Legacy stated in a statement.
According to a statement from the Oregon Anesthesiology Group, the doctor was suspended following the completion of an internal inquiry.
“Even though the risk of infection was low, new protocols and procedures have been put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future,” added the statement.
SOURCE : NBC NEWS
