BREMERTON, Wash. — CHI Franciscan said it’s working with county health officials to investigate a second COVID-19 outbreak at its St. Michael Medical Center in Bremerton, where at least four patients and two employees have tested positive as of Tuesday.
In an update posted online, CHI Franciscan said a hospital patient tested positive on November 3 after previously testing negative.
The next day, another patient tested positive and the hospital said it started notifications and testing on all staff and patients in the 3 West Unit. Two of the patients who tested positive were roommates.
“The first outbreak was pretty scary and the second one, I don’t really know how I feel about it,” said Judith Shoesmith, a physical therapist assistant at St. Michael Medical Center, in an interview with KIRO 7. “I don’t know that I’m entirely surprised but it’s scary — it can hit anybody.”
Shoesmith said she had been exposed to COVID-19 by a coworker during the first outbreak that was discovered in August. Kitsap County health officials said that outbreak was linked to 73 positive cases and three patient deaths.
At the time, healthcare unions and members raised concerns about inadequate PPE and poor communication from hospital leadership.
“It took four days for them to notify me that I had been exposed to a positive individual and I was only notified by them because I went and asked,” said Shoesmith, who later tested negative but had to be quarantined.
CHI Franciscan said it has deep-cleaned the affected rooms and restricted new admissions to the unit at the center of the new outbreak.
“St. Michael Medical Center is following all public health recommendations, including several enhanced safety and personal protective equipment (PPE) measures across the CHI Franciscan system to limit potential spread,” said CHI Franciscan in an online update.
“I do feel more safe at work than I did a few months ago,” said Shoesmith, who told KIRO 7 PPE that the supplies have improved, but that she continued to have concerns.
CHI Franciscan has dealt with COVID-19 outbreaks at other facilities, including St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, where 11 employees and four patients recently tested positive.
“There’s just something not working,” said Shoesmith. “Because if it was, we wouldn’t be in this situation again.”
The hospital said it’s using contact tracing to help possibly identify the root of transmission and connections between cases.
Cox Media Group
