FAQs for Colorado Hep C Investigation

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment currently is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on an investigation of a hepatitis C outbreak involving multiple patients at Rose Medical Center in Denver. The department is urging patients who had surgery and received injected medication for their procedure at Rose Medical Center between Oct. 21, 2008, and April 13, 2009, to get tested for hepatitis C as they may have been exposed to the virus by a former health care worker at Rose who was stealing pain medication for personal use.

The former employee also worked for a short time at Audubon Surgical Center in Colorado Springs and may have exposed patients undergoing surgical procedures between May 4 and July 1, 2009.

Patients who may have been exposed will be informed of their possible exposure via notification letters and follow-up calls from Rose Medical Center and the Audubon Surgical Center.
Both facilities will arrange for free, confidential blood testing at a commercial laboratory. Details and testing locations will be included with the notification letters. If you have specific questions regarding testing, please contact the facility where your surgical procedure was performed. Phone numbers and Web site links are as follows:

Rose Medical Center: 303-329-7500
www.rosemed.com

Audubon Surgery Center: 719-571-4440
www.audubonsurgerycenter.com

Not everyone is at risk or has been exposed to the virus; however, in the interest of public safety, we believe it is important to test everyone who had surgical procedures within the noted time frames.

We believe there is no further risk of transmission at this time, as the former employee has been arrested. Prior to the employee’s arrest, the state health department issued a public health order to the terminated employee stating the employee cannot work with patients or in the health care field.

Information for patients

Information for health care providers

Case Numbers Associated with Hepatitis C Investigation