COVID-19 Infection Prevention in Health Care Settings

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) developed this webpage to provide infection prevention and control resources to prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare facilities, including acute care hospitals, long-term, residential care facilities, and other settings where healthcare is being administered. Guidance for healthcare settings is often different from that of the general public due to the vulnerable nature of patients, the risk of exposure to healthcare workers, and the congregate nature of long-term care facilities.

Healthcare settings, including skilled nursing facilities, should follow CDC COVID-19 Infection Prevention in Healthcare Settings and CDC COVID-19 Guidance for Managing Healthcare Personnel with SARS-CoV-2 Infection or Exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

In general, infection prevention guidance for residential care settings, whose staff provide non-skilled personal care, supports following standard community prevention strategies for respiratory viruses. DOH encourages residential care settings (such as adult family homes, assisted living facilities, supported living, and enhanced services facilities) to follow the DOH guidance for what to do if someone has COVID-19 or another respiratory virus. DOH’s guidance is consistent with CDC community guidance that residential care settings follow, as well as providing some additional protections. Residential care settings include adult family homes, assisted living facilities, supported living, and enhanced services facilities.

The care provided across different residential care settings and resident risk factors may vary significantly, these communities are encouraged to assess their risk factors in making decisions about whether they follow healthcare IPC guidance or community guidance for preventing the spread of respiratory viruses. Visiting or shared healthcare personnel providing healthcare to residents should follow healthcare guidance. There may be additional situations when people in residential care settings should follow healthcare infection prevention strategies, as described in CDC COVID-19 Guidance for Healthcare Personnel.

COVID-19 Information: Novel Coronavirus Outbreak, Department of Health Coronavirus Disease, CDC

Healthcare-Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance information: Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI)

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Requests

The state PPE supply continues to be available to support organizations in extraordinary circumstances such as when supplies are unavailable through regular supply chains, when shipping delays cause an insufficient level of PPE, and when urgent needs arise that cannot be addressed through other means. If an urgent need exists, contact your local county emergency manager to determine how requests should be placed. They are able to answer questions about the request process.

Infection Prevention Materials for COVID-19

DOH aligns with CDC COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for healthcare settings, including long-term care settings. DOH’s Interim Recommendations for SARS-CoV-2 Infection Prevention and Control in Healthcare Settings was retired on April 3, 2023.

DOH created a SARS-CoV-2 Infection Prevention and Control in Healthcare Settings Toolkit (PDF) with resources for healthcare and long-term care settings. This toolkit includes additional links and tools to assist with updating facility policies and procedures. DOH encourages facilities to follow CDC’s Infection Control guidelines and recommendations. The toolkit provides supplementary resources to facilities following CDC recommendations.

If you have any questions, please contact us at HAI@doh.wa.gov

All Health Care Settings

Home Health/Home Care Guidance