The Oregonian – Two Portland-area hospital systems announced Thursday afternoon that a doctor involved in roughly 2,400 surgeries and other procedures may have exposed patients to infections, including HIV and hepatitis B and C.
Providence Health & Services and Legacy Health sent out news releases stating that a doctor or member of the Oregon Anesthesiology Group may have breached “infection control” practices.
Providence, in a written statement, shared the most details, stating that the doctor may have put patients at “a low risk of exposure to possible infections.”
Legacy Health called the person a “provider.” Officials with the Oregon Health Authority said the doctor was involved in surgeries and other procedures requiring intravenous anesthesia but didn’t provide specifics of what happened.
State health officials said they know of no one who acquired an infection.
Both hospital systems said they are mailing letters to patients who were possibly affected, including about 2,200 patients at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City, two patients at Providence Portland Medical Center in Northeast Portland and 221 patients at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham.
Providence said the doctor treated patients from 2017 to November 2023. A Legacy Health statement said the person treated patients for six months starting in December 2023. That would mean patients may have been infected through May.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are encouraging these patients to get a blood test to screen for the aforementioned infections, at no cost,” Providence officials said in a news release. “If a patient tests positive, Providence will reach out to discuss their test results and next steps.”
Both hospital systems said the person believed responsible for the infection control breaches is no longer employed by Oregon Anesthesiology Group or treating patients at their facilities.
Scott Gallagher, a spokesperson for the group, said the doctor is no longer employed with the organization.
“The safety of our patients is our top priority,” Gallagher said in a written statement.
“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 … ”
