SEATTLE — Seattle Children's told KIRO 7 on Wednesday 255 surgeries have been postponed since revealing the presence of Aspergillus in the air in three operating rooms and two procedural areas at its main campus last week.
Hospital officials said surgery coordinators are in contact with patients and families whose surgeries must be rescheduled.
Hospital CEO Dr. Jeff Sperring said in a statement Monday it is believed there are connections between the recent and past infections. Between 2001 and 2014, seven patients developed Aspergillus surgical site infections. Five of those patients died.
Earlier this month, the hospital initially planned to have ten operating rooms closed for up to five days, but decided to take what it called an "extraordinary measure" -- to close most operating rooms until the end of January while in-room filtration systems are installed.
On Thursday, King County Health officials will face questions about what they knew about the deadly mold.
KIRO 7 obtained e-mails that show Seattle Children's Hospital knew kids were being infected by toxic mold long before they told the public.
Those e-mails were between Children's and Seattle/King County Public Health.
The information stems from a public records request KIRO 7 filed in July.
Until Tuesday, the e-mails were heavily redacted. But a King County judge agreed some redactions could be undone.
They now reveal slightly more information, and reveal who knew what and when.
The e-mails show King County health officials were asking the state's premiere children's hospital questions last year about the number of kids infected by the toxic mold Aspergillus.
Cox Media Group
