The Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a COVID-19 outbreak at Maine Medical Center.Hospital officials said nine staff members in the emergency department tested positive, including those who were fully vaccinated against the virus. Those tests were reported to the Maine CDC on Aug. 5.The hospital has tested everyone who works in the emergency department as a precaution and is expanding testing to support staff. Hospital officials said late Monday as of Aug. 4, 87.2% of employees at Maine Medical Center were fully vaccinated. Maine Medical Center’s newly formed nurses union shared a statement saying, in part, “additional staff are reported to have tested positive in another department. We are assessing the situation to find out how this has happened.”“We want Maine Med to ensure that all frontline staff members have the personal protective equipment they need to do their jobs safely. And we want to make sure the hospital is following all safety protocols,” said Todd Ricker, lead labor representative for the Maine State Nurses Association. The Maine Medical Association, an organization which works to support physicians, said in a statement, “Maine’s physicians first hope none of the Maine Med cases are serious. The best way out of the pandemic is vaccination. Period. We’ve been encouraged that Maine hospitals have recently announced mandates, including Maine Med. It’s shocking that they are necessary for health care workers. The vaccines are not only very safe and effective but critical when your job includes caring for sick people.”Maine Medical Center officials said they contacted patients in the emergency department to have them get tested but none of those patients have tested positive so far.
The Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a COVID-19 outbreak at Maine Medical Center.
Hospital officials said nine staff members in the emergency department tested positive, including those who were fully vaccinated against the virus. Those tests were reported to the Maine CDC on Aug. 5.
The hospital has tested everyone who works in the emergency department as a precaution and is expanding testing to support staff. Hospital officials said late Monday as of Aug. 4, 87.2% of employees at Maine Medical Center were fully vaccinated.
Maine Medical Center’s newly formed nurses union shared a statement saying, in part, “additional staff are reported to have tested positive in another department. We are assessing the situation to find out how this has happened.”
“We want Maine Med to ensure that all frontline staff members have the personal protective equipment they need to do their jobs safely. And we want to make sure the hospital is following all safety protocols,” said Todd Ricker, lead labor representative for the Maine State Nurses Association.
The Maine Medical Association, an organization which works to support physicians, said in a statement, “Maine’s physicians first hope none of the Maine Med cases are serious. The best way out of the pandemic is vaccination. Period. We’ve been encouraged that Maine hospitals have recently announced mandates, including Maine Med. It’s shocking that they are necessary for health care workers. The vaccines are not only very safe and effective but critical when your job includes caring for sick people.”
Maine Medical Center officials said they contacted patients in the emergency department to have them get tested but none of those patients have tested positive so far.