More than 2,400 hospital patients in Oregon told they may have been exposed to infectious diseases | US News

More than 2,400 hospitalized patients in Oregon have been notified that they may have been exposed to infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B and C because a doctor did not follow proper procedures, health officials said.

The Oregon Health Authority said the breach is being investigated at the Providence and Legacy health centers in and around Portland.

He said the investigation focused on an anesthesiologist who administered intravenous anesthesia and employed “unacceptable infection control practices, which put patients at risk of infections.”

He said the exposure was related to a physician employed by the Oregon Anesthesiology Group.

The anesthesiologist, whose name has not been identified, no longer works for the group.

The doctor worked at two Providence facilities between 2017 and 2023, and at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham for six months starting in December of last year.

In a statement, Providence said Thursday that it is notifying about 2,200 people cared for at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City and two patients cared for at Providence Portland Medical Center that the anesthesiologist’s actions may have put them at low risk of exposure to possible infections.

Authorities encourage them to get a free blood test to detect infections.

If a patient tests positive, Providence “will contact you to discuss your test results and next steps.”

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 anesthesiologist’s contract had been terminated.

“When we learned that the doctor had violated infection control practices, we suspended him, informed our partners Legacy Health and Providence, and then began an investigation that resulted in the doctor’s termination,” he said.

“Although the risk of infection was low, new protocols and procedures have been implemented to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

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Oregon Healthy Authority said it is working with Legacy and Providence in “their investigations into violations of infection control practices.”

So far, “neither OHA nor the hospitals are aware of any reports of illness associated with this infection control violation,” he added.