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An Oregon anesthesiologist has been suspended after he may have exposed patients at Portland-area hospitals to infectious diseases.
Over 2,000 patients at Providence Portland Willamette Falls Medical Center and Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center, in the Portland area, have been informed they may have been exposed to HIV and Hepatitis, according to KGW8.
Legacy Health, a hospital operator that had some of its facilities impacted, announced it would be sending letters to 221 patients it thought had been impacted, the outlet reported.
The “infection control breach” came from a third-party anesthesiologist who had been contracted through the Oregon Anesthesiology Group. The doctor had been providing care at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center for a six-month period.
He started the role in December 2023, the outlet reported.
“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 Health said in a statement.
According to the outlet, Providence said that 2,200 patients at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center and two at its Portland Medical Center facility were being notified of the breach.
The organization also told KGW8 the outbreak had to do with one medical professional, who is no longer employed by the anesthesiology group. Legacy switched to another provider which caused hundreds of surgeries to be delayed, KGW8 reported.
Neither of the organizations provided details on how patients may have been directly exposed to the diseases. However, Providence said their patients were put “at a low risk of exposure” to hepatitis B and C and HIV.
“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,” the company said.
“Patient safety is our number one priority and our patients have our full commitment to a thorough review of this issue and appropriate action.”
In a statement, Oregon Anesthesiology Group, the company that employed the anesthesiologist in question, 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 then began an investigation that resulted in the physician’s termination.
“Even though the risk of infection was low, new protocols and procedures have been put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
The Oregon Health Authority said it did not know of any illnesses related to the potential breach.
The physician at the center of the scandal allegedly used “unacceptable infection control practices, which put patients at risk of infections,” a statement released by the agency said.
“While news of this infection control breach at Legacy Mt Hood Medical Center and Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center may be distressing for some people, it’s important to know that Oregon’s health care providers employ highly qualified and skilled infection preventionists and laboratory staff who lead the charge to prevent health care-associated infections.”
