EDITOR’S NOTE — A replay of our Tuesday story.
PORT ANGELES — A tent has been set up at Olympic Medical Center to screen potential new measles cases, and four individuals are being tested for the virus — three in Clallam County and one in Jefferson County, according to public health officials.
The tent at the hospital is a new measure to prevent the spread of measles to hospital patients, visitors and staff in the event someone with the virus came to the hospital, said Dr. Tom Locke, public health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties.
A sign posted at the hospital’s main entrance Monday directed anyone with measles symptoms to go to the emergency room’s west entrance and phone 360-417-7381 or, lacking a cell phone, wave at the door for a medical attendant’s assistance.
The yellow medical tent with chairs, heaters and a stainless steel medical table was set up in the parking lot outside of the west entrance.
Olympic Medical Center administrators were not available for comment Monday due to the Presidents’ Day holiday.
The tent is an emergency structure already owned by the hospital and can be used as a location where anyone with measles can be evaluated without exposing additional people to the virus, Locke said.
Health authorities caution people who think they or their children may have measles to call ahead to their health care providers and not to visit a doctor’s office, clinic or emergency room unannounced.
People who might have measles will be isolated and examined before they are treated and sent home or hospitalized.
The precaution is designed to prevent the spread of disease to people in waiting rooms.
Officials at Forks Community Hospital and Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend were also unavailable Monday to comment on whether similar plans exist at those hospitals.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com
Managing Editor/News Leah Leach and reporter James Casey contributed to this report.
