California changed mask mandates in healthcare settings. How are Sacramento region providers responding?

Updated April 12, 11:55 a.m.

Many of California’s indoor healthcare and high-risk settings no longer require masks for visitors and staff following updated masking guidelines effective April 3rd.

The order also removes the requirement that healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 and adjusts COVID-19 isolation protocols, placing less emphasis on negative testing to exit isolation. 

It arrives as California has amassed at least 101,000 deaths from COVID-19. 

“Masking continues to be important in settings where vulnerable people are residing or being cared for and is increasingly important when the risk for transmission increases in the community,” the California Department of Health said in a statement to CapRadio. 

Its new order delegates responsibility to individual counties with regard to setting standards for mask requirements in healthcare settings, though Sacramento County and Yolo County are  following the state’s guidance.

Given the risk COVID infection and reinfection still poses across demographics, groups ranging from the California Nurses Association to Disability Rights California opposed the loosening of regulations when the change was first announced last month.

“Abandoning these standards is a counterproductive and unscientific approach to curbing the spread and evolution of Covid-19,” said Bonnie Castillo, a registered nurse and the executive director of CNA in a statement. “[State officials] want to pretend Covid [sic] is over, but it’s not over. Infections are still going up, and we know that’s an undercount because people aren’t testing. Nurses and patients do not live in a world of make believe.”

Testing in California is currently at a low, near rates observed at the beginning of the pandemic, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.

CDPH doesn’t have specific guidelines for reinstating a mask requirement in healthcare and high-risk settings, and said it “continues to follow the framework based on the CDC COVID-19 Community Levels and will reassess this as methods of monitoring for COVID-19 exposure evolve.”

Kaiser Permanente, in a statement, said its Infection Prevention and Control experts “will continue to monitor transmission rates closely.” 

“These experts have the authority to issue masking requirements as indicated for situations such as outbreak management and/or reducing health care-associated transmission of COVID-19,” the healthcare provider said. 

Advocates and healthcare workers aren’t the only ones who have pushed back against the decision. Many patients at higher-risk for severe outcomes after COVID-19 infection say they’ve been pushed into a position of rationing care due to the lack of remaining safety precautions. 

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, doctors are required to provide “reasonable accommodation” to those at high-risk for COVID-19 if a request is submitted in writing, which can look like staff masking, proper air filtration or more. 

“We support any individual who wishes to … reasonably request their health care provider also wear a mask,” Kaiser Permanente said in a statement. 

The Disability Rights California hotline can help provide more information: 1-800-776-5746, open between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. After 4 p.m. and on weekends, the organization suggests leaving a message.

Here’s a non-comprehensive list of hospitals and healthcare providers in the Sacramento region, including what their masking requirements now look like and where to find the latest information. Kaiser Permanente and UC Davis Health spokespeople both said their facilities have HEPA filtration systems at appropriate levels to filter for pathogens. 

Kaiser Permanente: 

• Mask guidelines: Masks are recommended, not required, for members, visitors, patients and staff barring some exceptions. 
  • Masks are required for patients who have a droplet-transmissible disease, including COVID-19, per CDC Standard and Transmission Based precautions for patient care.
  • Staff are still required to wear masks in the operating room per surgical attire, after known COVID-19 exposure or COVID-19 infection for 10 days per employee/occupational health policies and during influenza season per county orders and Kaiser Permanente policy.
• Where to find the latest information: In Kaiser Permanente facilities and on kp.org. 

Sutter Health:

• Mask guidelines: Masks are recommended, not required, except in some patient care cases when patients have “known or suspected airborne-transmissible disease,” which includes COVID-19. Some departments may continue to require masking, including transplant units and infusions centers, so Sutter Health recommends checking during patient intake.
  “We’ve asked our team members to accommodate any requests to wear a mask,” the company’s COVID-19 FAQ page notes.
• Where to find the latest information: On Sutter Health’s COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions page. 

UC Davis Medical Center:

• Mask guidelines: Masks are required for patients, guests and providers in all clinical settings where patient care is delivered.
  “This includes areas such as the Emergency Department, hospital rooms, operating rooms, entry to patient care units, ambulatory clinics (including primary care clinics away from the medical center) and patient waiting areas,” a spokesperson for UC Davis Health said in a statement. 
• Where to find the latest information: UC Davis Health has a FAQ page about face masks, including updated guidance.

Shriners Children’s Hospital:

• Mask guidelines: Masks are optional for employees, volunteers and visitors with some exceptions.
  “Our staff is also being asked to honor requests by patients and visitor[s] to wear a mask when delivering care or interacting with them if it’s requested,” a spokesperson for the hospital said.
• Where to find the latest information: For general questions on COVID-19 protocol, call 916-453-2000.

UC Davis Student Health & Counseling Services:

• Mask guidelines: Masks are strongly recommended in healthcare facilities, including Hunt Hall, North Hall and the UC Davis Student Health and Wellness Center.
  The Student Health and Wellness Center requires employees not vaccinated against this season’s flu to mask, Margaret Trout, executive director of health and wellness, said. SHCS asks students to voluntarily mask if they have respiratory symptoms, adding that medical staff will mask when appropriate (e.g. treating someone diagnosed with COVID-19). 
• Where to find the latest information: UC Davis’s COVID-19 information hub, campusready.ucdavis.edu.

Sacramento State Student Health & Counseling Services:

• Mask guidelines: Masks are required for students in health clinic areas, said Brian Blomster, the university’s director of news and communications. However, there are other settings on campus where masks are recommended, such as the audiology clinic.  
• Where to find the latest information: Blomster said information is updated on the Student Health & Counseling website and the broader COVID-19 information page maintained by the university’s Student Affairs department.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This story has been updated with the correct spelling of Bonnie Castillo’s last name.