MultiCare fined again for COVID-19 safety violations, this time at Puyallup hospital

The Washington State Nurses Association, which represents nurses at Good Sam and filed the initial complaint prompting the inspection, issued a statement Wednesday in response to the citation.

“WSNA filed this complaint on behalf of our nurses at Good Samaritan after a COVID-19 outbreak in one unit at the hospital that resulted in nine of our members testing positive for COVID-19,” the union said. “With multiple citations and $27,000 in penalties, DOSH has affirmed what WSNA has been saying since the onset of this pandemic: Certain hospitals simply have not done enough to provide our nurses — and all front-line health care workers — with the protections they need to safely care for themselves and their patients.”

It added it was “deeply troubled” by MultiCare’s plans for appeal and that it intends to oppose “any effort by MultiCare Good Samaritan to have the DOSH citations and fines overturned.”

“Good Samaritan nurses and patients would be better served if MultiCare instead took the appropriate corrective action immediately rather than dragging this out and denying our members their legal right to provide patient care in a workplace that is free from hazards that can cause serious injury or death,” the association said.