SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KRON) — Hospital workers at the Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital will be rallying Wednesday afternoon to demand more testing and stronger infection control measures.
The rally comes after a recent COVID-19 outbreak within the hospital, infecting 26 staff members and some patients with the coronavirus.
Caregivers claim they were denied testing, including those who were exposed to infected staff.
The hospital is telling a different story, saying an investigation and testing were conducted immediately.
All caregivers believed to have high-risk exposure from the incident completed three rounds of testing and there were no additional COVID-19 positive caregivers or patients 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.
Statement, St. Joseph Health on Sept. 23, 2020
The hospital continued saying they ensured all caregivers who were exposed received the care they need and caregivers apart of this cluster did not pay for testing.
The hospital says they have introduced new safeguards including more social distancing, additional plexiglass partitions, and proper personal protective equipment.
However, healthcare workers say the hospital is not doing enough to prevent another outbreak.
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