Two Providence Care Hospital staff test positive for COVID-19
Two health care workers at Providence Care Hospital are among the most recent confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported by KFL&A Public Health.
Providence Care says that over the weekend, it received confirmation that two health care workers at the Providence Care Hospital site had tested positive for COVID-19. Providence Care says that the health care workers who tested positive have not entered the hospital since developing symptoms.
“The safety of our staff and the people we serve is our number one priority. We are working closely with Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington (KFL&A) Public Health, staff members and our Infection Prevention and Control team to ensure all appropriate and best practice infection prevention and control measures have been taken to limit the spread among staff and patients” said Cathy Szabo, Providence Care President & CEO.
Providence Care says that all staff and patients that were identified as having met the criteria for close contact with the confirmed cases, have been contacted and placed on quarantine to monitor for signs and symptoms over the next 14 days. No other staff or patient transmission has been identified, according to the hospital’s release.
“Both staff members identified their symptoms early and did not report to work while ill. They followed our protocols by self-monitoring and rapidly identifying themselves to Occupational Health for testing. We have all the necessary precautions in place and I feel confident in our ability to respond appropriately to limit the spread of infection,” said Dr. Gerald Evans, Providence Care’s Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control.
In addition to infection prevention measures already in place for COVID-19 across Providence Care sites prior to the confirmed cases, Providence Care Hospital says that it has implemented the following measures in response:
• Infection Prevention and Control, as well as Occupational Health, Safety and Wellness have completed contact tracing for individuals who have had close contact with the confirmed cases.
• Any staff and patients that came in close contact with the confirmed cases have been contacted and placed on quarantine to monitor for signs and symptoms over the next 14 days.
• Additional housekeeping measures have been implemented.
• Strictly enforcing physical separation in areas such as charting and other spaces where staff break.
“Our teams are working around the clock to assure Providence Care is taking all proper precautions and steps to keep all staff, physicians, patients, clients, and residents at every one of our sites safe. This includes: the use of appropriate personal protective equipment, visitor restrictions, active screening of patients, clients, residents, and staff, increased cleaning and sanitation of our clinical areas, public spaces and equipment,” says Szabo.
“We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and work together with our staff and community partners to take swift actions to limit the spread of the virus,” adds Evans.
Are residents of Providence Care still allowed on unsupervised day trips? It is one thing to not permit visitors IN. But what are the restrictiins on visits OUT into the community?
I think some people feel that health workers are more at risk because they need to treat vivid-19 patients which although true however if the patients have no contact outside of the hospital it is the patients who are more at risk.
Nice to find out that 2 co-workers had Covid19 by way of the media. We were informed by a Quarintine Alert email that “The person was NOT on the unit while ill; however out of an abundance of caution we’re placing the unit under quarantine measures.”
Only after you published this story did the hospital inform staff that this was actually 2 people and that they were staff.
Wonder what else they are lying about?