Operating Rooms Still Closed at Seattle Children’s Hospital
SEATTLE (AP) – All operating rooms at Seattle Children’s Hospital will be closed for several days as a crew inspects the building’s air handling system after a renewed outbreak of Aspergillus mold was discovered.
KOMO reports the corrective actions include calling in a third-party hygienist to help inspect the air handling unit. That unit will be cleaned and sanitized. Crews will also clean all the main operating rooms and other areas.
In all, 14 operating rooms have now been closed.
The move comes as a team from the Washington State Department of Health arrived at Seattle Children’s on Tuesday to investigate why Aspergillus mold has resurfaced in three operating rooms and two procedural areas in the hospital.
The latest discovery marks the second time the mold has been found at the hospital this year. Three other patients were sickened by the fungus earlier this year, following three patients who were infected in 2018. One died in the spring.