Weeks after undergoing a medical procedure requiring intravenous anesthesia at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham, Anthony Laszlo was perplexed to find a letter in the mail from the hospital suggesting he might have exposed other patients to an infectious disease.
Laszlo said his primary care physician called him by phone in early June, about three weeks after the procedure.
“I was told they wanted me to get tested to make sure I wasn’t patient zero,” Laszlo said. “They said in the letter there was no risk to me.”
A second letter sent this week cast the situation in a different light: A “violation of infection control practices” could have exposed Laszlo and other patients to any of a number of infectious diseases. Both letters recommended that he be tested immediately — and then two more in the coming weeks — for HIV and hepatitis B and C.
Last week, Legacy and Providence Health & Services revealed that a provider involved in about 2,400 surgeries and other procedures may have exposed patients to infections over a six-year period. The hospital chains provided few details, saying only that there was a “low” risk of potential infection. Affected patients, they said, will receive letters with more details and instructions on what to do next.
Providence said the provider, contracted by Portland-based Oregon Anesthesiology Group, worked at two of its hospitals from 2017 through last November. Legacy said the provider worked at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham from December through May.
The disclosure, the hospital chains said, affects 2,200 patients at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City, 221 patients at Legacy Mount Hood and two at Providence Portland Medical Center in Northeast Portland.
Laszlo said the conflicting and scarce information had left him frustrated and worried.
“Now I’m questioning a lot of things, including my own health, frankly,” Laszlo said.
The letters now reaching patients add new details to what both hospital chains have said publicly.
In the first letter, dated June 3, Legacy Mount Hood officials told Laszlo they were contacting him because he had undergone a procedure at the hospital, during which “a breakdown in infection control practices may have occurred.” The letter said the hospital had determined there was “a potential low-risk exposure risk to other patients seen after” Laszlo’s May procedure.
“This issue does not affect your health,” the letter continued. “We are concerned that another patient may have been exposed to your blood and bodily fluids. We are asking for your help.”
The June letter then asks Laszlo to undergo free testing for HIV and hepatitis B and C viruses. The hospital said it wanted Laszlo to be tested immediately “to determine if there is a risk.”
“I was tested immediately and the results said I was negative,” Laszlo said. “I thought I was out of danger.”
On Monday, Laszlo received a second letter from Legacy again stating that hospital officials “have learned that a violation of infection control practices may have occurred” during his May intervention.
That letter, however, claimed that Laszlo could have been exposed. “While we do not know if this violation of protocol will result in any illness, it is possible that this action exposed you to infections,” the letter added.
“They said in their first letter that there was no possibility that I was exposed,” he said. “I thought they were concerned that I could be the infector, and now they’re saying maybe I was exposed?”
Legacy Health encourages patients to get blood tests for HIV and hepatitis B and C viruses at least three times: immediately, then four months after their potential exposure, and then again six months after the potential exposure.
Meanwhile, a Providence spokesperson said the health system has sent letters to affected patients, who should receive the letter this week.
A copy of the letter provided by Providence also recommends that patients get tested for HIV and hepatitis B and C.
Providence said it “recently learned” that a physician employed by Oregon Anesthesiology Group may not have followed “Providence’s comprehensive infection control practices.”
An affected Providence patient would need only one blood test — not three — “because the exposures at Providence were much less recent,” Providence spokeswoman Jean Marks said.
Both hospital chains offer free blood tests at LabCorp, a chain of contract medical laboratories.
The nature of the policy violation remains unclear. Neither hospital chain provided details.
Oregon Health Authority officials said only the doctor is involved in surgeries and other procedures requiring intravenous anesthesia.
State health officials said last week that they were not aware of anyone who had contracted an infection and that the Oregon Health Authority’s hospital-acquired infections program was assisting hospitals’ investigations.
Providence severed ties with Oregon Anesthesiology Group last year after 33 years of contracting with the physician-owned practice. The move came after Providence said a shortage of anesthesiologists was leading to canceled or delayed surgeries.
After losing the Providence contract, Oregon Anesthesiology Group was hired by Legacy.
Laszlo, the Legacy Mount Hood patient, said the hospital charged him $1,100 for the procedure, which he said was a preventative screening.
He said hospitals should do a better job of providing detailed information to the public and their patients.
“I feel like they’re completely out of touch with reality and what their patients are going through,” he said. “They’re forcing us to draw our own conclusions.”
Legacy did not respond to emailed questions about the two letters Laszlo received, but hospital officials said in a statement that they “understand and sympathize with the stress this situation has caused our affected patients.”
Laszlo said he wondered if he was putting his family at risk. According to Legacy’s website, the hospital said in a message to patients that it was committed to “paying for you to receive the necessary testing and, if you were to test positive for an infection or virus, we would also pay for testing for family members.”
According to Providence’s letter to patients, hospital officials are “in the process of determining how this happened.”
He said a “review” is underway involving the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Oregon Health Authority.
— Kristine de Leon covers the retail sector, small businesses and data companies. Contact her at kdeleon@oregonian.com
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