Health care workers with COVID-19 are still treating patients, but it’s allowed in Kansas
Some health care employees in the Kansas City area who have tested positive for COVID-19 have continued to work, potentially spreading the virus to vulnerable patients.
They aren’t necessarily breaking any rules. It’s a practice allowed by the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when facilities face staff shortages.
An employee at Overland Park Rehab and Care Center, who asked not to be named to protect her position, said multiple staff members with the virus continued working.
While staff who tested positive were assigned to work in a quarantine area, the employee said she had observed them in other parts of the facility.
Thirty-six residents and 25 staff members have tested positive, according to the company’s website.
The facility has implemented strict measures following direction from the CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said Karla Baum, regional vice president for the facility. Those include providing PPE, daily screenings for symptoms and restricting visitation.
The facility did not receive any citations during an infection control inspection last month, Baum said.
When the employee called the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services to report that COVID-19 staff had been working, she was shocked to learn that it was permitted.
KDADS is using guidelines set out by the CDC.
Health care personnel can generally return to work 10 days after symptoms first appeared and at least 24 hours without a fever, the CDC said.
But in cases of severe staff shortages, employees with COVID-19 can return to work before that. The CDC outlines how their responsibilities should be prioritized. In the first tier, positive staff should perform duties where they do not interact with others. In the next tier, employees are allowed to provide care for COVID-19 patients. The next tier allows them to work with patients suspected of having COVID-19. As a last resort, staff with COVID-19 are allowed to provide direct care for patients that do not have the virus.
Staff should wear a mask and are prohibited from working with patients who are severely immunocompromised such as those who have undergone an organ transplant.
Health care groups and employees have expressed grave concerns about the guidelines.
“At a time when older adults are at such high risk from harm and death due to COVID in congregate settings – why would our policy response be to allow COVID positive workers into the facility,” said Mitzi McFatrich, executive director of Kansas Advocates for Better Care.
An employee at United Medical Group in Kansas City, Kansas, said one staff member was treating patients while positive for the virus.
“It puts everybody at high risk,” she said. “It’s unacceptable ... it’s unethical.”
The private practice has had staff shortages due to illness and burnout, she said.
A request for comment was not returned.
While KDADS said their role was to make sure facilities were following CDC protocols, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment had a slightly different take. The department acknowledged the CDC’s guidance, but recommended positive staff not work.
KDHE spokeswoman Kristi Zears said the department did not know if the CDC’s guidelines had led to any outbreaks at long-term care facilities because spread was already likely occurring.
Kansas has recorded 92,215 cases including 1,087 deaths. Outbreaks at long-term care facilities account for 4,536 cases including 525 deaths. Clusters related to health care have caused 312 cases and four deaths, according to KDHE.
The CDC did not respond to a request for comment.
