A Rhode Island hospital utilizes asymptomatic COVID-positive staff

CRANSTON, R.I. (WLNE)- Healthcare workers who tested positive for COVID-19 were on the job at Elanor Slater Hospital this week, after Rhode Island approved the practice amid staffing shortages.

“Due to staffing constraints, and consistent with the recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Rhode Island Department of Health, Eleanor Slater Hospital utilized two asymptomatic COVID-positive staff members on Saturday, Jan. 1, and three on Monday, Jan. 3.,” says the State of Rhode Island’s Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, & Hospitals.

Eleanor State Hospital says no COVID-positive staff worked Tuesday.

The state of Rhode Island has aligned quarantine and isolation guidance with the CDC’s guidance, which provides healthcare facilities with the strategies to limit the effects of staff shortages caused by COVID-19 on patient care and note that:

• Healthcare workers with COVID-19 who are asymptomatic can return to work after 7 days with a negative test, and that isolation time can be cut further if there are staffing shortages.
• Healthcare workers who have received all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses, including a booster, do not need to quarantine at home following high-risk exposures.

“These guidelines apply only to the healthcare workforce and may be revised to continue to protect both healthcare workers and patients as additional information on the Omicron variant becomes available to inform recommended actions,” states the CDC.

Rhode Island Department of Health spokesperson, Joseph Wendelken, confirms that facilities would have to meet the crisis status requirement determined by the state and are required to be approved before bringing in COVID-19 positive workers.

“Asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic workers should be considered first in these instances, and of course masks are required. Also, facility administrators should be using their clinical judgement in making staffing decisions. For example, a facility may opt for a COVID-19 positive worker to only care for COVID-19 positive patients. Facilities are required to alert RIDOH when they are in a circumstance that requires COVID-19 positive workers to be on site. Again, this is all in alignment with the new CDC guidance.”