9 employees test positive for COVID-19 in 2 weeks at California state hospital on Central Coast
Internal communications and official figures from Atascadero State Hospital reveal that at least four patients and a total of 21 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Tribune obtained internal case and testing figures — which were current as of Tuesday — after the Department of State Hospitals and San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department both declined to release the precise numbers of infected persons to the public, per their respective policies.
The Department of State Hospitals publishes a patient tracker but does not publish numbers of cases if the number is less than 11.
As of Tuesday, the internal communication shows, two patients had tested positive within the previous 14 days, for a total of four patients diagnosed since May 16, which appears to be the date of the first positive case.
The report shows that a total of 1,452 tests had been administered to ASH patients, including re-testing, with 1,354 tests coming back negative. The report showed 94 tests were pending on Tuesday.
There have been no reported patient deaths.
The communication from Tuesday showed that 17 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 since March 20, and that five of those tested positive within the last 14 days.
The Department of State Hospital’s official figures as of Wednesday added four additional staff members who had tested positive since March 20, bringing the total to 21.
But the state’s figures did not reveal how many employees had tested positive in the last 14 days. The internal communication reveals that number to be nine, as of Wednesday.
No contractors who work at the facility have reported testing positive.
Atascadero State Hospital treats an all-male population of roughly 1,200 people who are severely mentally ill and have allegedly committed or have been convicted of a violent felony.
It has a staff of approximately 2,100 people who work with a daily average of about 1,200 patients, bringing the total to 3,300 people at the facility.
Medical confidentiality prevents precise data
Obtaining specific coronavirus numbers from the Department of State Hospitals regarding particular state psychiatric facilities has been difficult, unlike data from state prisons, which California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has been releasing daily since March 25.
A Tribune request for information from an Atascadero State Hospital spokesman was referred to a Department of State Hospitals spokesman in Sacramento.
That spokesman, Ken August, said the agency couldn’t release specific data due to HIPAA medical confidentiality laws that protect patients, even though prisons and jails report such information about inmates.
Asked for the specific number of positive cases, August wrote: “DSH cannot provide a more specific number when the count is between 1 and 10, due to the requirements for Data De-Identification pursuant to HIPAA and in accordance with DSH Policy and CHHS Data De-Identification Guidelines.”
Asked for the dates of the positive tests, August wrote: “DSH is unable to release the dates for the most recent COVID-19 positive tests for patients and staff at DSH-Atascadero due to the inability to sufficiently de-identify the data as is required under HIPAA and in accordance with DSH Policy and CHHS Data De-Identification Guidelines.”
He added: “That said, the most recent dates of a positive COVID-19 test for a DSH patient or for an employee at any state hospital is August 3, 2020.”
In response to followup questions, August in an email Wednesday clarified that federal and state privacy laws differ between California prison inmates and state hospital patients.
“The smaller the number of individuals in a group, the easier it is to re-identify them — especially when several other factors are already known,” August wrote. “The masking of <11 is a way to provide some information to the public, while maintaining patient privacy as required under HIPAA and (the Lanterman Petris Short Act)..”
He said the reporting of numbers in the range of 1-10 as <11 is also consistent with patient data publicly reported by the California Department of Public Health when reported related to a specific healthcare facility.
The Tribune asked county Public Health Department spokeswoman Michelle Shoresman if the county had the number of ASH case numbers, and Shoresman said the county has not been releasing case information related to specific facilities or businesses, “except on occasions when the county health officer feels there is an imminent public health threat.”
“It is up to each facility, business or organization to set policy on the release of COVID-19 information,” Shoresman said.
The struggle for precise information on cases at Atascadero State Hospital — one of the county’s largest employers — comes amid a surge of cases in the North County and at the California Men’s Colony, where 77 inmates and seven employees have tested positive since July 30, according to CDCR.
On Tuesday, The Sacramento Bee’s State Worker report had to rely on a leaked administration email to staff to report that two patients at Coalinga State Hospital had died of COVID-19. August also declined The Bee’s request for information, citing the same medical privacy laws.
No patient or employee at Atascadero State Hospital has died from suspected COVID-19, the Department of State Hospitals reports. The agency reports that fewer than 11 patients have died at both Coalinga and Patton state hospitals.
Atascadero State Hospital suspended patient visitation in mid-March, and employees there told The Tribune in late March that they were not being provided appropriate masks, items like hand sanitizer were running low, and that nurses and technicians were serving every meal to the patient population, who were confined to their housing units.
The department said it is taking enhanced safety precautions across its five state hospitals.
In June, the Department of State Hospitals implemented mandatory testing for patients and some employees at two of the state’s psychiatric hospitals, not including Atascadero State Hospital.
The Department of State Hospitals declined a Tribune request for an interview with CEO Jason Black and for a tour of the facility. It also requires The Tribune to submit all questions about Atascadero State Hospital in writing to its Sacramento public affairs office.
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 3:50 PM with the headline "9 employees test positive for COVID-19 in 2 weeks at California state hospital on Central Coast."
