2,400 patients potentially exposed to HIV, hepatitis in Portland hospitals

More than 2,400 patients at hospitals in Portland, Oregon could have potentially been exposed to infectious diseases — including hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV — after an anesthesiologist allegedly failed to follow proper infection control practices.

While still considered low risk of exposure, Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City (13 miles south of Portland) had to notify approximately 2,200 people that they may have been exposed to possible infections.

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Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham contacted more than 200 patients who may have been affected, while Providence Portland Medical Center reached out to two additional patients.

According to the Oregon Health Authority, the physician who delivered intravenous anesthesia employed “unacceptable infection control practices, which put patients at risk of infections.” The anesthesiologist, whose name hasn’t been released, has since been terminated, according to Oregon Anesthesiology Group.

“When we learned that the physician had violated infection control practices, we suspended him, informed our partners Legacy Health and Providence, and then began an investigation that resulted in the physician’s termination,” Oregon Anesthesiology Group said in a prepared statement obtained by CBS News. “Even though the risk of infection was low, new protocols and procedures have been put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

The anesthesiologist in question worked at the two previously mentioned Providence facilities between 2017 and 2023 before working with Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center for six months before he was terminated.

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Officials are encouraging the patients at risk to get a free blood test to screen for the infections. If a patient tests positive, Providence will “reach out to discuss their test results and next steps,” Providence said, according to CBS News.

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.

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