SPOKANE — Five patients who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus will be treated at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.
The U.S. and Washington departments of health, the Spokane Regional Health District and Providence announced the patient transport in a statement Wednesday evening. Sacred Heart was selected because of its airborne infection isolation rooms, and the patients will be transported sometime in the next 48 hours, according to the statement.
“We are coordinating with local partners to safely transport these patients to Sacred Heart,” Bob Lutz, Spokane County health officer, said in the statement. “This is all being done following our jointly developed infectious disease protocols that we train and prepare for. The risk to the public from this novel coronavirus remains low.”
Hospital operations are not expected to be affected by the arrival of the patients with the coronavirus.