Statement regarding recent COVID-19 positive caregivers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital

We have concluded our contact tracing associated with the cluster of caregivers and patients who tested positive for COVID-19 on 1 Center, one of our medical surgical units at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Throughout the process we worked closely with Sonoma County Public Health, infection prevention and others in our Providence St. Joseph Health family.

Consistent with guidance from the CDC and county public health officials, all caregivers believed to have had a high risk of exposure as a result of this incident have completed three rounds of testing and no additional COVID-19 positive caregivers or patients have been identified. A total of 26 caregivers and fewer than five patients have tested positive for COVID-19 as a result of presumed caregiver-to-patient transmission related to this incident.

Ensuring all caregivers who were exposed received the care they need was our top priority. Caregivers who were part of this cluster did not pay for testing and our organization provides 100% coverage of in-network medical claims for COVID-19 treatment for caregivers and their dependents enrolled in our medical plans.

To reduce the possibility of a future occurrence and to maintain our high standards of safe patient care, we will continue to follow local, state and federal infection prevention protocols to deep clean the hospital and screen everyone who enters our doors. In addition to these practices and many other safety precautions, we recently introduced new, enhanced safeguards, including:

• Rearranging and removing furniture that is not conducive to social distancing and installing additional plexiglass partitions (such as those that have been in place in public areas such as Admitting) in our designated caregiver areas (such as break rooms) to encourage social distancing and further protect our caregivers and physicians.
• Increasing infection control rounding to help ensure proper adherence to social distancing, masking and eye protection throughout our ministry; our infection prevention team has increased their presence and is helping to support caregivers as needed.

As Santa Rosa and Sonoma County continue to experience community spread of COVID-19, our priority will remain on keeping our caregivers and patients safe. To help reduce the spread, we will continue to make sure that our caregivers have the appropriate PPE for every care setting and discipline, and that they follow our universal masking and social distancing policies.

Additionally, we will continue to take immediate steps to prevent spread of the virus by quarantining, contract tracing and following protocols from Sonoma County Public Health and the CDC.