BEND, Ore. – St. Charles Health System has reported an outbreak of COVID-19 cases at the St. Charles Redmond hospital campus to Deschutes County and the state of Oregon. An outbreak is defined as a cluster of cases that are related.
As of Wednesday, 31 caregivers had tested positive for COVID-19, and their cases are being investigated in collaboration with Deschutes County Health Services and the Oregon Health Authority.
“We are taking every possible measure to stop the spread of the virus, to protect our patients and our caregivers,” said Aaron Adams, chief executive officer for the Redmond hospital.
In addition to existing COVID-19 precautions, the Redmond hospital has put in place new safety measures including:
- Offering COVID-19 testing to all St. Charles Redmond hospital-based caregivers
- Asking caregivers to stay home and get tested if they have any symptoms of COVID-19, no matter how mild
- Increasing air exchange to six times per hour
- Increasing air filtration to more than the CDC recommendation (+90% filtration at .3 microns)
- Instructing caregivers in direct patient care roles to use N95 respirators and eye protection throughout their shift while the outbreak is ongoing
- Adding hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies to more locations throughout the facility
- Asking caregivers to eat in the cafeteria or on the outside patio rather than in break rooms
- Adding maximum capacity signage to all break rooms and conference rooms to ensure physical distancing can be maintained
The hospital is also currently limiting visitors to the following groups only:
- A caregiver or attendant of a patient who needs assistance due to a language barrier or the patient’s disability, whether that disability is physical, developmental, intellectual, cognitive, behavioral or is related to altered mental status or communication, whose presence will assist the person with the disability in receiving treatment, ensure the safety of the patient or facility staff, or who must assist with activities of daily living
- A close family member of a patient undergoing end-of-life care as determined by the medical provider in charge of the patient’s care
- A parent or legal guardian of a hospitalized child. If one parent or legal guardian meets screening criteria but the other does not, only the parent or legal guardian who meets screening criteria must be guaranteed access
“We hope our community understands and will help us by following all COVID-19 restrictions, both inside and outside of our facilities,” Adams said. “The number of positive COVID-19 cases continues to be high throughout the region and we need your help to ensure we have a healthy workforce to care for you and your loved ones.”
It continues to be critically important for individuals to wear masks as well as practice physical distancing and good hand hygiene.
About St. Charles Health System
St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Ore., owns and operates St. Charles Bend, Madras, Prineville and Redmond. It also owns family care clinics in Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters. St. Charles is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 4,500 caregivers. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with the health system to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.
