USC hospital in Glendale reports coronavirus test results; other area hospitals are not following suit
To date, 30 patients have tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital since the pandemic arrived locally. Of the 161 people tested, 125 tested negative and six are awaiting their results.
These figures — as well as whether the patients are at the hospital, were sent home or transferred to another facility — are all available on USC-VHH’s virtual dashboard, launched March 25.
It’s updated in the mornings daily, “so that we can share with the community what is going on,” said Keith Hobbs, chief executive at USC-VHH. Keck Medicine of USC has launched its own dashboard.
So far, the city’s other two hospitals — Adventist Health Glendale and Dignity Health Glendale Memorial — have not released similar statistics.
As the number of patients grows, USC-VHH will consider creating additional data touching on age ranges and gender, Hobbs said.
Hospital officials have hesitated to release that data because, with the relatively low numbers of patients, it might identify a specific patient.
“We really do need to walk a fine line between wanting to be transparent, while keeping privacy for our patients there as well,” Hobbs said.
Glendale has 103 confirmed novel coronavirus cases, with one resident’s death tied to the virus, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health.
USC-VHH reported the city’s first confirmed case of the virus on the morning of March 16.
L.A. County’s Department of Public Health is the lead agency managing the testing and known cases of the virus for Glendale. It’s up to individual hospitals to decide whether or not to release information about confirmed cases at their facilities, Glendale city officials said in recent weeks.
Adventist Health has adopted a policy to not share these numbers publicly, hospital spokeswoman Alicia Gonzalez said.
“It is the same stance that many other health systems have adopted,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “We realize that some hospitals are providing numbers publicly, but many are not, and we are in that same category.”
Glendale Memorial is reporting numbers only to county officials, according to hospital officials.
The chief executives of the three local hospitals “are in touch on a daily basis, discussing what we’re dealing with and how we can help one another,” Hobbs said.
According to Hobbs, USC-VHH was one of the first batch of hospitals in Southern California to make the number of patients it has public.
Patch Cunanan, a nurse at USC-VHH, said she thought it was ultimately beneficial to release the information, despite the anxiety it might cause.
“The more the numbers come out, the more careful people are. They’re like, ‘OK, this is real’,” said Cunanan, who works on a hospital floor dedicated to patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
USC-VHH can transfer patients to nearby Keck Hospital of USC to connect them with the care they need or free up space locally, Hobbs said.
So far, 11 patients who tested positive for the virus have been transferred, along with one who tested negative, according to the dashboard.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases has risen rapidly locally and across the county in recent days, which county officials have attributed in part to an increased availability of testing.
To date, there are 4,566 confirmed cases across the county, with 89 reported deaths related to the virus.
Hobbs said he anticipates the number of cases in Glendale will continue to grow, with a peak expected in late April.
To access USC-VHH’s virtual dashboard, visit uscvhh.org/coronavirus-concerns.