Providence Health & Services has closed a unit in its northeastern Portland hospital following a severe COVID-19 outbreak that left 49 staff members and patients infected with the virus.
The outbreak, the largest to date in a metro area hospital in the Portland area, presumably started around December 20 and was centered in the hospital’s 4-k unit. It is not a COVID unit, but treats patients who are stable but require persistent, intense care, such as victims and traumatic victims of the brain injury.
Providence spokeswoman Gary Walker confirmed that the outbreak had taken place, adding that 36 hospital workers and 13 patients had contracted the virus. None of them died and most were asymptomatic or were only mildly ill, Walker said.
Jeremy Shipley, a five-year veteran-registered nurse, worked in the 4-k unit and contracted the virus. He is recovering and is expected to return to work this weekend. But it was also devastating to catch COVID despite his careful attention to safety.
“I was a proponent of personal protection and caution,” he said. “I feel overwhelming that I was the person who came down.”
Some hospitals in Oregon have been hit hard by the virus. A total of 158 staff and patients have contracted COVID at Salem Hospital since June. Another 87 have been infected at Good Shepherd Hospital in Hermiston since last summer. Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg has reported 61 COVID cases since last summer.
Earlier this month, PeaceHealth Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver had an outbreak of 29 people.
This latest outbreak is the fourth at a Providence facility since November and by far the largest.
Jeff Manning 971-263-5164 [email protected]