Augusta Hospital Didn’t Screen Staff For Coronavirus Symptoms, Report Says

The Augusta hospital that came under fire for offering early coronavirus vaccines to donors last month had been cited by the state earlier in January for violating COVID-19 prevention protocols. Inspectors from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services found a range of violations during a visit to MaineGeneral Medical Center, including some problems they had previously noted in November 2020 that went uncorrected by early January. Nearly 10 months after Maine saw its first coronavirus case, for example, a number of MaineGeneral employees were reporting for work in the emergency department without going through screening for virus symptoms and receiving clearance to work, according to the inspectors’ report. On Jan.