Seattle Children’s must make systemic changes to keep patients safe

In November 2019, Seattle Children’s CEO Dr. Jeff Sperring publicly acknowledged 14 patients were sickened and six children died from complications of Aspergillus infection related to Seattle Children’s failed management of operating room air-handling systems. 

Other children were subject to what the hospital defined as high-risk exposure to mold in its operating rooms in 2019, and they needed preventive follow-up care that continued into 2020. These children included cardiac surgery and neurosurgery patients. They were given additional preventive courses of antifungal medication and underwent blood monitoring because of their possible exposure to Aspergillus, for which Seattle Children’s admitted negligence. 

As parents of patients in the group given preventive treatment after the exposure, we acknowledge that in so many ways, our children were the lucky ones. Our children were exposed and at risk, just as the children who developed infections and died were. Our children, quite thankfully, survived. To say that we, the families involved in this matter, have had to hold an ambivalence of emotion is an understatement: gratitude and betrayal, hope and fear, joy that our children are still alive along with profound anger for what they have endured.

What happened to our children and our families, the additional treatment our children required, and the weight of the negligence with which they were handled, is striking. Seattle Children’s has not only failed to acknowledge this group of children, but has systematically indicated that the end is the only part of our story that matters; that we walked away from this tragedy with our children alive means that the rest is irrelevant. It is not.  

My husband and I are physicians. We believe it is our responsibility to treat our patients with the same type of care we want for our own family members. We received that exact care for our child from her doctors and nurses at Seattle Children’s, whom we hold in the highest regard for their dedication to their work. They, too, relied on Seattle Children’s administration to maintain air- handling systems in the operating room. They, too, were failed by their hospital. 

We recognize the unfortunate limitations and pressures on health care systems, and we are concerned that this contributes to these types of systemic failures. We acknowledge that this problem is complex.

We proceeded as plaintiffs in a class action trial with the hope of some accountability not just for our daughter, but for the entire group of children affected in the same manner. This week, a jury heard the stories of a few such families and awarded damages.

More importantly, we carry the ongoing hope of systemic change. These nonmonetary requests were not allowable in the court system, but our community should demand them:

▪ Seattle Children’s should appoint a patient and family representative to a permanent seat on the Safety Leadership Committee, with priority given to a representative directly affected by events at the hospital.

▪ Seattle Children’s should publicly outline measures taken to address Aspergillus exposure in its operating rooms, including remediation of facilities, infection control strategies and goals, and transparency around systematic changes in communication, reporting and accountability.

▪ Seattle Children’s should review and improve its policies in handling notifications and support for patients and families affected by reportable events and should apologize to all of the families involved in these events.

Seattle Children’s serves a four-state region. All of the children and families in this large community deserve transparency, accountability and the assurance of knowing that this kind of tragedy will not be repeated.