More than 2,400 hospital patients told they may have been exposed to infectious diseases

Jul 12, 2024

More than 2,400 hospital patients in Oregon are being notified they may have been exposed to infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B and C because of a doctor who may not have followed proper procedures, health officials have said.

Oregon Health Authority said the breach at both Providence and Legacy health facilities in and around Portland is being investigated.

It said the investigation centred around an anesthesiologist who delivered intravenous anaesthesia and employed “unacceptable infection control practices, which put patients at risk of infections”.

It said the exposure was related to one doctor employed by the Oregon Anaesthesiology Group.

The anesthesiologist – who has not been named – no longer works for the group.

The doctor worked at two Providence facilities between 2017 and 2023, and at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Centre in Gresham for six months starting in December last year.

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In a statement, Providence said on Thursday it is notifying about 2,200 people seen at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Centre in Oregon City and two patients seen at Providence Portland Medical Centre that the anesthesiologist’s actions might have put them at low risk of exposure to possible infections.

Officials are encouraging them to get a free blood test to screen for the infections.

If a patient tests positive, Providence will “reach out to discuss their test results and next steps”.

Legacy Health said it was sending letters to 221 patients who may have been affected, KGW-TV reported.

Oregon Anaesthesiology Group said in a statement that the anesthesiologist’s contract had been terminated.

“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,” it said.

“Even though the risk of infection was low, new protocols and procedures have been put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

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Oregon Healthy Authority said it is working with Legacy and Providence on “their investigations of breaches of infection control practices”.

So far “neither OHA nor the hospitals are aware of any reports of illness associated with this infection control breach”, it added.

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