Hilton Head doctor who allegedly contracted COVID-19 hasn’t been at work in weeks, practice owner says
An emergency room physician on Hilton Head Island who allegedly contracted COVID-19 hasn’t been at his private office in three weeks, according to the medical center’s owner.
The owner on Thursday said the doctor was last at the practice in late June and had tested negative for COVID-19 at the time. The doctor reportedly fell ill at some point since then, the owner said.
No patients at the practice could have been exposed to the coronavirus through the doctor, the owner said.
Because of that, when rescheduling the doctor’s appointments, the practice has been telling patients that the physician is sick, but not providing additional details due to privacy concerns, the owner said.
The doctor wasn’t working at the practice as of Thursday, the owner confirmed.
The Island Packet is not naming the doctor or the practice at this point because there is no known danger to the public or the doctor’s patients.
The newspaper last weekend reported on a complaint sent to Hilton Head town manager Steve Riley early July 11 calling for widespread coronavirus testing amid allegations that an ER doctor on the island had tested positive for COVID-19.
Beverly Taylor, a local real estate broker, emailed the complaint to Riley.
In an interview last Saturday, Taylor said she was at Hilton Head Hospital’s emergency room with a friend on July 8 when the doctor in question walked in with a luggage bag. The doctor said not to come closer because he had COVID-19, she said. Taylor’s friend, who asked not to be named in a July 11 story, confirmed to The Island Packet that she heard the doctor say he had COVID-19.
The doctor works at a private practice and in the Hilton Head Regional Healthcare system, Taylor said.
Daisy Burroughs, a spokesperson for Tenet Healthcare, which owns Hilton Head and Coastal Carolina hospitals, in a statement last Saturday said she was unable to comment on a specific patient’s case due to privacy laws. But she did say that as of July 11 the doctor in question had not worked at Hilton Head Hospital in nearly two weeks.
Burroughs did not answer an emailed question Saturday about any plans the hospital had to contact patients who might have been exposed to the doctor.
