Coronavirus outbreak reaches California state hospital with first 2 patient deaths

Two patients at a state hospital in Coalinga have died after testing positive for COVID-19, according to a Department of State Hospitals email.

One patient died Sunday while waiting for community placement following commitment, according to the email sent to all staff on Monday. The patient contracted the virus while receiving treatment outside the hospital.

The other died Monday at an outside hospital, according to the email.

The department declined to release specific information on the deaths Monday, citing federal and state health privacy rules.

The state hospital has about 1,300 beds and treats sexually violent predators, offenders with mental health disorders and a group of severely disabled people who haven’t committed crimes but represent a danger to themselves or others.

Twenty-eight patients had tested positive for COVID-19 at the hospital as of July 31, department spokesman Ken August said in an email.

Thirty-one employees have tested positive, according to the email that was sent to workers.

“DSH-Coalinga and all DSH hospitals remain committed to preventing the spread of COVID-19 and working with local public health officials to protect our patients and employees,” August said in the email. “The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a rapidly evolving situation.”

The hospital employs about 2,300 people, ranging from psychiatrists, psychiatric technicians and nurses to groundskeepers and maintenance workers, according to its website.

The hospitals confine patients to small spaces and limit their movement, but so far they have avoided outbreaks like those that have emerged at some of the state’s prisons.

The hospitals regularly test employees, place patients who have tested positive in isolation spaces and hold new arrivals in observation units for testing, among other measures, August said in the email. All patients are provided masks and encouraged to wear them, according to the email.

The department suspended admissions of certain categories of patients from mid-March through late May, but has resumed admissions, according to the email.

When mandatory testing began in June, the union representing state psychiatric technicians raised worries about transfers between facilities and the availability of surgical masks.