Children's National Hospital physician tests positive for COVID-19

A physician at Children’s National Hospital has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). In response, President and Chief Executive Officer of Children’s National Hospital, Kurt Newman, M.D., issued the following statement:

“Children’s National's top priority is the safety of our patients, families and employees.

On Sunday, March 15, we informed our staff that one of our physicians tested positive for COVID-19. Because of privacy laws, we cannot broadly share any additional information but leaders will directly communicate with any staff or families who may have been in contact with this person. We will work with our occupational health department and our infectious disease specialists to determine the appropriate next steps. Anyone impacted will have the organization’s support.

In an unrelated development, our additional testing capabilities also allowed us to rapidly test a patient we treated in our emergency department (ED), who has also tested positive for COVID-19. The ED team followed all infection control protocols to protect our other patients, families and staff and the child did not need to be admitted.

Since this outbreak began, a team of leaders has met multiple times a day to assess and improve our readiness to care for patients with this infection while protecting our staff. We tailored our response to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today we remain ready to serve the families who rely upon us."

Media Contact: Beth Riggs | 301-233-4038 | 202-476-4500