SEATTLE (AP) — Workers exposed to the coronavirus at the state’s largest psychiatric hospital say a flawed testing process likely produced inaccurate results and exposed them to the virus again.
Employees at Western State Hospital say they were crowded into a small space, where few people were wearing masks, and were told to swirl a swab inside their noses.
The method is meant only for people showing symptoms, and the staffers say none of them did. They say it’s another failure to protect staff and patients.
The facility has a pattern of attacks on staff and lost its federal funding after multiple investigations.
Officials defend the test as accurate and say they’re working to regain employees’ trust.