A female maternity worker at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital has tested positive for tuberculosis — potentially exposing hundreds of newborns and their family members to serious illness.
The unnamed worker at the hospital’s obstetrics department at 10th Avenue and W. 59th Street may have been contagious for months — but to date no patients have tested positive, a city Health Department spokesperson said.
“The individual was diagnosed in another jurisdiction, and the Health Department was notified because the work site was in New York City,” the health department spokesperson said.
All potentially-exposed patients are being offered evaluation and testing services, a hospital spokeswoman told The Post.
The hospital would not say over what time-span the TB-infected worker was in contact with patients, and in what capacity.
“Immediately upon learning of our employee’s illness, Roosevelt Hospital contacted the New York City Department of Health to advise them of the unfortunate situation and develop a comprehensive plan to identify and contact those patients who were possibly exposed.
“This employee previously had been tested for TB and the employee’s health survey suggested no problems,” the statement said.
“Few individuals exposed to someone with TB become infected because infection generally occurs after continuous exposure over several hours. Still, we are taking the extraordinary precautions that we have to address this issue,” the statement said.
Hospital workers who may have been in contact with the infected staff member are also getting tested, the statement added.
The news was met with concern by patients Thursday.
“They didn’t tell us anything,” Alex Diaz, 25, said after taking his sick 11 month-old daughter to the hospital Thursday.
“We wouldn’t have come here if we had known.”