Coyote runs loose in Port Townsend hospital

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A coyote wandered into Jefferson Healthcare Medical Center Tuesday morning and shattered a glass panel after it got frightened and tried to escape.

The coyote was first spotted by  Amy Yaley, the hospital’s marketing and communications director, around 10:05 a.m.

“It was hard not to notice, I was sitting in a meeting area outside the cafe,” Yaley said.

The animal apparently entered the hospital through the facility’s automatic doors. It wandered through the hospital’s express clinic, ran down a hallway, broke a glass panel trying to get away, and finally tried to hide in a corner of the hospital’s  outdoor courtyard.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Port Townsend Police Department, and Center Valley Animal Rescue were called to the scene shortly after the animal was spotted.

No one was harmed in the encounter, but the coyote sustained injuries from breaking through the glass panel, and had lacerations to its snout, said Detective Sergeant Brett Anglin of the Sheriff’s Office.

The operations of the hospital were not impacted by the unexpected visit, Yaley said.

“The animal had sat down and started resting [in the courtyard], the situation could’ve been much more difficult had it gone somewhere else,” Anglin added.

Animal Control Deputy Erik Allen of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office caught the coyote with a net before it was sedated.

“Center Valley Animal Rescue came and assessed the situation, went in, and sedated the animal without any problems,” Yaley said. “It was a pretty big coyote, and took a while to sedate.”

Around 11:30 a.m., the creature was transported to the animal rescue’s veterinary facility to treat its lacerations and other potential injuries.