CRANSTON – State officials said on Friday that a COVID-19 outbreak among patients at the Eleanor Slater Hospital is unrelated to the crisis-level staffing policy enacted by the R.I. Department of Health on Dec. 31 that allows medical facilities to bring infected employees into the workplace as needed.
At least 28 people cared for at the state-run Eleanor Slater Hospital in Cranston and Burrillville facilities were infected with COVID-19 as of Thursday, when the latest count was made available.
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However, these COVID-19 cases were not caused by infected employees who were allowed to work at the understaffed facility on Jan. 1 and Jan. 3, according to Edgar Randal, a spokesperson for the R.I. Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, which operates Eleanor Slater Hospital.
“Questions have been raised as to whether the small number of asymptomatic staff who worked on two separate days caused the COVID cases at the hospital,” said BHDDH in a statement. “The asymptomatic COVID-positive workers are not connected to the COVID outbreak. Asymptomatic staff who worked [Jan. 1] and [Jan. 3] worked only in the areas with COVID-positive patients, with one exception.”
In the one instance in which a COVID-19-positive employee worked in an area with noninfected patients, there was no evidence of transmission, the department said.
“There have been no COVID-positive cases reported in the area where this work took place,” according to the statement.
The crisis-level policy of bringing COVID-19-positive employees into work when they do not show symptoms was consistent with recent isolation guidance published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the R.I. Department of Health.
“Like many other states throughout the country, Rhode Island aligned our quarantine and isolation guidance with the CDC’s guidance,” said Joseph Wendelken, a spokesperson for the health department, in a recent email. “The CDC recognized that states across the country are experiencing health care worker shortages. According to the CDC, if a hospital or nursing home is experiencing a significant staffing challenge, facility administrations may make a determination on the need to have a COVID-19-positive health care provider work.”
BHDDH said staffing constraints forced the department to resort to bringing in COVID-19-positive employees.
“The decision to utilize COVID-positive staff who are asymptomatic is consistent with CDC guidance that allows hospitals facing significant staffing challenges to utilize asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic workers,” the department said.
Eleanor Slater Hospital cares for about 200 patients, including those with long-term injuries and mental health conditions.
The state-run hospital has long been the subject of scrutiny, including criticism leveled in an eight-page report last year from the R.I. Executive Office of Health and Human Services, which highlighted management problems at the facility.
Marc Larocque is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @LaRockPBN.
