County that had KY’s first COVID-19 death says mixup could delay care, increase exposure
A Bourbon County Health Department official says the agency has been struggling to get critical information from the state in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis, potentially delaying notice for people who have been exposed to COVID-19 in the county.
A mix-up at the state level, where officials are incorrectly considering Bourbon County part of the WEDCO Regional Health Department, has resulted in information pertinent to Bourbon County being sent to WEDCO, which covers Harrison, Nicholas and Scott Counties, said Dr. Patty Swiney, the medical director for the Bourbon County Health Department.
“We have spent hours on the phone trying to correct the problem to no avail,” Swiney said. “It is delaying notification of those who have been exposed in our community.”
There have been two confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Bourbon County, including the first Kentuckian known to have died while infected with the virus.
Swiney said that in the first case, it took more than 36 hours for the Bourbon County Health Department to be notified of a positive case because of a mix-up that originally attributed a patient from Bourbon County to Harrison County. It took two days for the county to be informed of its second case, who was a contact of the first case in the county.
The delay in information slows down a process called “contact tracing” where epidemiologists race to build a web of people who came in contact with the virus in order to prevent it from spreading further. In Bourbon County’s case, first responders remained unsure what to do while they waited to find out if the patient they handled tested positive, Swiney said.
“We were waiting to get results, waiting to get the results,” Swiney said.
Swiney said part of the problem comes from the fact that people in Bourbon County may not get tested in Bourbon County. She said when the state lab has been sending back the results, instead of contacting the county the patient lists, the information is going to the hospital where the person was tested.
“This is going to be true all over the state,” Swiney said. “And that’s really going to delay care and it’s going to increase exposure.”
The Beshear administration did not respond to Bourbon County’s complaints and instead confirmed that they are sending the results to WEDCO instead of Bourbon County.
“Results from tests requested from a Harrison County provider would be reported to the WEDCO District Health Department, regardless of patient’s home county,” the cabinet for Health and Family Services said. “When WEDCO receives these results, their officials share them immediately with the patient’s county of residence.”
The first reported case of the coronavirus in Kentucky was a Harrison County resident, which is covered by WEDCO (named for a doctor who worked in the district during the administration of former Gov. Martha Layne Collins).
Bourbon County has had its own health department for more than 30 years, but WEDCO still lists Bourbon County prominently at the top of its website. The health department clarifies on its “About Us” page that it only covers Bourbon County for its home health agency, not for health department needs.
At some press conferences, Beshear has had Crystal Miller, the director of public health at the WEDCO district and touted the role of local health departments, saying that the pandemic underscores “the importance of our local health departments and the people who work there.”
Miller did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There have been seven total cases in Harrison County and six are still active. One person has recovered.
Swiney said the work that Beshear and Public Health Commissioner Steven Stack have been doing is “top notch,” but that the communications issue is a problem that needs to be fixed.
“This is just, down the chain, something that’s fallen apart,” Swiney said. “And it’s something we need to get fixed.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 11:21 AM.
