Washington: Five coronavirus patients to be transferred to Spokane's Sacred Heart - Diamond Princess cruise ship returnees?

[NawtyBits]

https://www.krem.com/article/news/h...kane/293-bebcd824-fd13-456a-87a2-4a6b6b478814

Five coronavirus patients to be transferred to Spokane's Sacred Heart

SPOKANE, Wash. — Five patients who have tested positive for COVID-19, more commonly known as coronavirus, are being transferred to Spokane's Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.

According to a press release, Providence Sacred Heart was chosen "because of its secured airborne infection isolation rooms." Sacred Heart is one of 10 hospitals with this as a specialized unit across the country.

 

[NawtyBits]

https://srhd.org/news/2020/joint-st...coronavirus-to-be-transferred-to-sacred-heart
[h=1]Joint Statement: Five Patients Testing Positive for Novel Coronavirus to be Transferred to Sacred Heart[/h] Spokane Regional Health District: Kelli Hawkins
509.324.1539 | khawkins@srhd.org

Providence Health Care: Jennifer Semenza,
509.474.3081 | Jennifer.Semenza@providence.org

Washington State Department of Health: Public Information Office
253.512.7100 | doh-pio@doh.wa.gov

A joint statement from Spokane Regional Health District, Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, and the Washington State Department of Health

Spokane, Wash. - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has asked Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center to monitor and care for five individuals who have tested positive for the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Providence will work closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) to care for these patients while they are under isolation. The exact timeline for the patient transfer is not yet known, but it is expected to occur within the next 1-2 days.


Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center was selected because of its secured airborne infection isolation rooms, a specialized unit within the hospital. Providence is one of 10 hospitals in the country with this specialized treatment center. Regular hospital operations will not be impacted.

Dr. Bob Lutz, Spokane County Health Officer with SRHD, explained the process of transporting patients with infectious diseases has been well practiced between local partner agencies.

“We are coordinating with local partners to safely transport these patients to Sacred Heart,” Lutz said. “This is all being done following our jointly developed infectious disease protocols that we train and prepare for. The risk to the public from this novel coronavirus remains low.”

More information on prevention and treatment of COVID-19 can be found on SRHD.org, the DOH website, and the CDC website. For additional information, please contact the Washington State Department of Health at 1-800-525-0127 and press #.


Media Interview Availability

Thursday, Feb. 20 – 1 p.m.

 

[yielddude]

I am assuming these are five of the current 15 positive cases in the US? Seems like they may not be doing well, if they need to be tranferred to this facility?

 

[NawtyBits]

I am assuming these are five of the current 15 positive cases in the US? Seems like they may not be doing well, if they need to be tranferred to this facility?

Why would they transfer all the way to Spokane? There must be similar facilities in California, I would think.

 

[sharon sanders]

There are also the returnees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Some of the positive cruise ship cases went to Nebraska.

 

[Treyfish]

More to follow, glad they told us something

 

[NawtyBits]

Small Update. Leads me to believe it's a transfer of some of the 15 we already know about. But, I wonder, why now? Or maybe some of the Diamond Princess folk.

https://www.krem.com/article/news/h...kane/293-bebcd824-fd13-456a-87a2-4a6b6b478814

[snip]


A spokesperson for the Spokane Regional Health District said patients will fly into Spokane International Airport, but it is unknown if they will taken to the hospital via ambulance or an aircraft.

 

[alert]

I'm thinking it's the folk from the cruise ship. Three of the 15 others have already been discharged. It's tough to imagine five more are ill enough to need special treatment across the country at this point.

We don't know where the 14 from the ship live, but I'd have to imagine, given that they took a Pacific cruise, that Spokane is probably closer to home for many of them than Omaha would be. If I was fighting a deadly disease, I'd want to be as close to home as logistically possible.