- Authorities say more than 2,400 patients at Portland, Oregon-area hospitals may have been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV and other diseases because of anesthesiologists who may have neglected infection-prevention precautions.
- Officials are encouraging these patients to undergo free blood tests to check for infection.
- The anaesthesiologist was fired and, although the risk of infection was low, new procedures and protocols have been put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Authorities say more than 2,400 patients at Portland, Oregon-area hospitals may have been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV and other diseases because of anesthesiologists who may have neglected infection-prevention precautions.
Providence said in a statement Thursday that it has notified about 2,200 patients who were seen at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City and two patients who were seen at Providence Portland Medical Center that their doctor’s actions may have put them at reduced risk of infection.
Officials are encouraging patients to get a free blood test to screen for the infection. If a patient tests positive, Providence will “contact them to discuss the test results and next steps,” Providence said.
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The doctor was employed by Oregon Anesthesiology Group and worked at two facilities in Providence from 2017-2023.
An Oregon doctor used “unacceptable infection control practices,” potentially exposing thousands of patients to infection. Pictured: An anesthesiologist places a mask on a patient’s face in Germany, Nov. 29, 2023. (Frank Molter/Photo Alliance via Getty Images)
The doctor also worked at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham for six months, beginning in December 2023. Legacy Health said it was sending letters to 221 patients who may have been affected, KGW-TV reported.
The Oregon Anesthesiology Group said in a statement that the doctor, whose name was not released, had been fired.
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“After it was determined that the physician had violated infection control practices, we suspended him, notified our partners, Legacy Health and Providence, which launched an investigation and subsequently terminated the physician’s employment,” the organization said in a statement. “While 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 its investigation into the violations focused on doctors who administered intravenous anesthesia and employed “unacceptable infection control practices that put patients at risk for infection.”
OHA is working with Legacy and Providence Hospitals “to investigate violations of infection control practices.” To date, “neither OHA nor the hospitals are aware of any reports of illnesses related to these infection control violations,” the health department said.
