WALLA WALLA, Wash. — An outbreak of COVID-19 has infected a cluster of employees at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla’s third surge of the virus, administrators said on Thursday, Oct. 22.

The infected staff work together in a single unit of the hospital and tested positive for the coronavirus within a few days of each other, spokeswoman Kathleen Obenland said.

Hospital officials would not disclose the specific number of affected employees, due to federal and state privacy laws. St. Mary noted those affected represent less than 1% of the workforce generally described as around 1,400 employees, though the math around that number was also not confirmed by hospital officials.

Walla Walla has seen a spike in cases since the weekend. Thirty-three cases were reported between last Friday afternoon to mid-day Monday.

Five new cases were reported Monday. By mid-week, that number increased to double digits. With 18 more positive test results reported Thursday, the total number of active cases in Walla Walla County was 104, with seven people in the hospital.

No details have been provided about the unit in the hospital where infected employees work, but the staff, who may range in occupation from nurses and doctors to housekeeping employees, are believed to have a common source of exposure.

“We have a lot of tools built into our record that allow us to look for common themes and common touchpoints,” said St. Mary Chief Medical Officer Chris Hall.

No evidence has been uncovered yet that indicates virus transmission from staff to patients in this outbreak, though the investigation is preliminary and ongoing, and current findings aren’t definitive.

“What we’re trying to avoid is any sense of panic in the community,” Hall said.

Transparency in acknowledging the outbreak is intended to help the public understand the medical center is able to safely serve the community, he said.

“When COVID started, people delayed or didn’t seek medical care until they came for very large heart attacks or strokes,” he said.

Health care officials don’t want a repeat of that, he said.

Hall said a shortage of doctors and nurses has long existed in the community. The hospital has also been short on staff as employees quarantine due to home or community exposures.

What’s not yet clear is whether employee infection is traced from one caregiver to another or from exposure to patients.

Hall said the facility is well-positioned with personal protective equipment to continue serving the public safely.

But in a memo to staff, he said the hospital is “critically short-staffed in nursing beds at this point,” and that many caregivers are out ill, on quarantine status and/or have tested positive for COVID-19.

To address the situation, the hospital is taking proactive steps, including the following:

• Extensive, rigorous contact tracing for all possible exposures.
• Testing for any potentially exposed caregiver or provider.
• Reduction of inbound medical transfers to save beds for the local community and nearby facilities.
• Possible reduction of surgeries that can be safely delayed, including non-urgent procedures such as plastic surgery.
• Expansion of incident command.

Obenland said all affected caregivers are in quarantine, and St. Mary is working with the Walla Walla County Department of Community Health.

A deep, environmental cleaning has been done in addition to cleaning measures already in place, she said.

The hospital has been following best practices established by the Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including screening staff for COVID-19 symptoms at the building entrance every day, requiring universal masking and other measures, Obenland said.

Those processes enabled St. Mary officials to quickly identify the group of sick employees, she said.

“We are taking every precaution to prevent the spread of this disease and are following established infection-prevention protocols.”

Hospital officials are considering a return to a more restrictive visitor policy pending the outcome of the contact tracing of the outbreak and considering the increased positivity rate in the community, Obenland said.

“This is the moment we need to pause and make sure we’re protecting everyone, including all of our caregivers,” Hall added.

He said employees with any symptoms stay home.

The use of surgical and N95 masks, combined with eye protection and regular hand washing at the hospital, have been successful in deterring spread of the virus, he said.

“We know what we’re doing is keeping people safe,” he said.

The hospital has also been short on staff as employees quarantine due to home or community exposures.