Employee and patient COVID-19 testing and infection prevention deep clean protocols are underway at Kohala Hospital following the news of emergency room physician Josh Green’s positive COVID-19 test.
Green announced Friday evening that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He was on staff in the Kohala Hospital emergency department on Sept. 5, 6 and 7.
After receiving word of Green’s positive test, Kohala Hospital Administrator Gino Amar contacted Friday evening the 11 patients who had been treated by Green during his weekend shifts. Patients were informed of the situation and provided the opportunity to get a COVID-19 test at the hospital.
Currently, 17 employee and nine patient tests have been conducted, according to a press release from the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation West Hawaii Region. Results are pending.
Hospital personnel also Friday conducted a thorough deep clean of the North Kohala facility’s emergency department. A deep clean is a more thorough process that includes extensive cleaning of beds, equipment and fixtures to reduce the risk of infections spreading.
According to the press release, Kohala’s protocol calls for deep clean of the emergency department twice daily, and after every potential COVID-19 patient discharges. High-touch surfaces are cleaned a minimum of four times daily.
Saturday morning, the physicians’ cottage which is home to traveling doctors at Kohala Hospital, also received a deep cleaning.
Amar commended Kohala Hospital staff for their teamwork in initiating infection control as well as employee and patient testing plans, saying their response, “was fast, efficient, and done with maximum urgency.”