04 Jul No Positives Via Enhanced Employee Testing at OMC
PORT ANGELES (July 4, 2020) – In partnership with Clallam Country Health and Human Services, Olympic Medical Center offered free, voluntary COVID-19 testing to its employees last week, specifically targeting inpatient units at the hospital. All 389 tests returned negative for COVID-19.
The tests were processed by the Washington State lab.
“These results are outstanding,” says Darryl Wolfe, interim chief executive officer. “We would like to thank Dr. Allison Unthank and county health department personnel, and our incident command and leadership teams here at Olympic Medical Center for leaping into action to determine the scope of this cluster of COVID-19 and contain it.”
Two Olympic Medical Center employees from a single department tested positive for COVID-19 on June 26. Officials immediately began contact tracing with patients and employees exposed to these staff members, finding no additional positive COVID-19 results. The organization then followed by offering free testing to employees at the hospital.
“We wanted to provide peace of mind to our employees and the community by offering testing to our employees even though they have no symptoms,” says Wolfe. “We are confident in our infection control practices here at Olympic Medical Center, and this incident serves as a reminder to all of us to be diligent out in the community by wearing face coverings and masks, washing our hands, avoiding crowds and maintaining physical distance.”
At the state’s request, Olympic Medical Center will offer an additional free testing opportunity to employees on Wednesday, July 8.