Bellingham hospital requiring everyone to wear mask in ER during coronavirus pandemic
Everyone who comes into the Emergency Department at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, including all patients and visitors, will be asked to wear a mask, as Whatcom County responds to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s just to minimize the risk of exposure in an area where we have a lot of traffic,” hospital spokesperson Bev Mayhew told The Bellingham Herald Wednesday, April 1.
The hospital already has been screening and checking everybody for symptoms at all main points of entry to the hospital for at least week, Mayhew said, adding that anybody “with a little cough or is starting to show a temperature or any other symptoms” related to COVID-19 has been asked to wear a mask.
As of Wednesday at noon, the Whatcom County Health Department reported 144 residents have tested positive for COVID-19, eight of which have died.
A daily “situation report” from Whatcom Unified Command, the agency that is handling local response to the pandemic, obtained by The Herald showed the hospital had 22 suspected “in-house” coronavirus cases and 11 confirmed cases on Tuesday, March 31.
The hospital recently has received public criticism on social media since Dr. Ming Lin, a veteran Bellingham Emergency Department doctor, spoke out about what he said were St. Joseph hospital’s lack of measures taken to protect staff and patients in a March 15 social media post.
Dr. Lin said Friday, March 27, he was fired after raising those concerns.
TeamHealth, a national physician services firm that contracts with St. Joseph hospital’s emergency department and employs Dr. Lin, is still employing and paying Dr. Lin, according to spokesperson Greg Blair.
“TeamHealth has been in touch with Dr. Lin to work on another placement,” Blair told The Herald in an email Tuesday.
Blair did not answer The Herald’s questions regarding whether Dr. Lin could still work at St. Joseph hospital in the future, if St. Joseph hospital staff had requested that Dr. Lin be removed or any reasons behind why Dr. Lin was no longer working at the hospital.
PeaceHealth has referred all of The Herald’s questions on Dr. Lin to TeamHealth.
The Washington State Nurses Association and the American College of Emergency Physicians both made statements in support of Dr. Lin and the concerns he raised.
Before the hospital began putting masks on everyone to visit the ER this week, PeaceHealth Northwest Chief Executive Charles Prosper told The Herald on Saturday, March 28, that the hospital has made masks available upon entry to the ER during cold and flu season “for years.”
Since COVID-19 spread to the region, Prosper said the hospital has moved those masks closer to the doors and positioned a caregiver to screen anyone coming into the ER. That screening includes the caregiver asking a few questions, taking temperatures and placing masks on anyone who is suspected of potentially producing infectious droplets, Prosper said.
Prosper also told The Herald that PeaceHealth has a “stable” supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and is working to add to its reserve, though it is asking care workers to conserve when possible with an eye toward a potential surge in COVID-19 cases and CDC guidelines.
This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
