Valley Medical said it had strict procedures and cleaning processes in place, from screening everyone entering the hospital for fever and requiring employees with symptoms to stay home to mandating that everyone wear surgical masks and practice good hygiene.

But six employees with ties to a single unit at the county-run hospital in San Jose became ill last month, with four testing positive for COVID-19, one assumed to be positive and one believed to have died as a result of the virus.

“Health care workers across the board are very anxious about there not being a consistent protocol,” said Linda Hurley, a nurse at Santa Clara Valley Medical and an officer on the board of the nurses union, the Registered Nurses Professional Association.

The hospital is investigating a whistleblower complaint that claimed administrators failed to notify the staff of the outbreak and that managers on a second floor unit who were infected with COVID-19 returned to work while they were still sick and may have spread the virus.

Nurses across the region expressed their fears in interviews and emails to the Bay Area News Group but asked to remain anonymous because they were concerned about losing their jobs. They say safety measures aren’t enough and worry about spreading the disease to loved ones at home.
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People can be infected with the coronavirus without showing symptoms, so screenings at hospital entries aren’t a catchall, they say.

Social distancing isn’t realistic if multiple nurses or doctors need to tend to a patient at the same time. And while personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves are crucial, nurses unions say there’s a lack of adequate supplies at some facilities.

“They fear for their safety, for their patients’ safety, for their family’s safety, and for their co-workers’ safety,” National Nurses United Executive Director Bonnie Castillo said in a statement.