OAHHS Hospital Voice Fall/Winter 2020

12 » A magazine for and about Oregon Community Hospitals. HONORING OUR COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY Asante’s contact tracing is a key component to keeping employees and patients safe By Lauren Van Sickle Editor’s Note: When the COVID-19 outbreak began, Oregon’s hospitals responded. This is the story of one system, Asante Health, but so many others could have been singled out as well. “You’re on the list.” In the world of COVID-19 contact tracing, that’s a list where you do not want to see your name. “One thing about COVID that’s difficult is the uncertainty,” said Megan Frost, MD. “To call someone and say, ‘You’ve had an exposure, but I can’t tell you anything about it,’ brings more questions than answers, and a lot of fear.” Dr. Frost is a general surgeon with Asante Physician Partners in Grants Pass. When the pandemic hit Southern Oregon and hospitals stopped doing elective surgeries and other procedures to save on supplies of personal protec- tive equipment, Dr. Frost was tapped to become Asante’s first contact tracing director. With a master’s degree in public health, and temporarily freed up from elective surgeries, Dr. Frost transitioned into the world of contact tracing when the need arose among Asante employees. In March, when the first Asante employee tested positive for COVID-19 in Josephine County, Asante’s contact tracing kicked into gear. Through the tracing process, Dr. Frost and her team quickly determined this was a case of community-acquired infection. “When an employee or a patient tests positive, we get a list of anyone who may have been exposed to that person,” Dr. Frost said. “It’s a challenging conversation because privacy laws prohibit us from identifying the infected person. We can only speak in general terms of when and where you may have been exposed.” The list of contacts for just one infected person can be long. In July, when several employees tested positive at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center, Dr. Frost said 200 employees were contacted and tested. “And that’s just within Asante. The connections outside our walls are traced by the public health department.” Collating the list, getting contact information and making the phone call takes time, sometimes two to three days or more. “In the meantime, people talk. They think they know who the infected person is, and they get scared. That feeling often turns to anger, so we’re dealing with intense emotions while trying to put the employee’s mind at ease,” Dr. Frost said. Even if the exposure risk is low, Asante’s tracing is aggressive to avoid missing someone who may have been exposed. “Health care workers follow rigorous safety protocols which help keep their risk of infection low.That’s what we focus on to help employees overcome their fear.” Megan Frost, MD

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