Dallas Hospital's Image Hurt By Ebola Crisis
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - People across the country continue to criticize Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas for how it handled the Ebola virus. Two hospital staffers are now fighting Ebola in two different states after contracting the virus while treating Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. Duncan died at the hospital.
Nina Pham was the first health care worker in North Texas diagnosed with the virus. Her plane laned in Maryland at around 10:00 p.m. Thursday night. She is now in isolation at the National Institutes of Health.
Meanwhile, doctors at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta are doing everything they can to save Dallas nurse Amber Vinson, the second hospital staff member to be diagnosed with Ebola. Emory University Hospital has a well-established track record of successfully treating Ebola patients and keeping others safe. Vinson is now in stable condition.
Vinson's family released a statement that said, "Amber is a respected professional and has always had a strong passion for nursing. She followed all the protocols necessary when treating a patient in Dallas and, right now, she's trusting in her doctors and nurses as she is now the patient."
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital has apologized for the situation, but many believe that it is too little, too late. Employees said that the hospital just was not ready for treating an Ebola case.
Cheryl Robinson is a medical record field technician. She said that Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital is an uncomfortable place now, as many are worried about possibly contracting the world's deadliest virus. And the apology issued by hospital officials Thursday on Capitol Hill has done little to calm the Ebola fears, Robinson said, even among hospital employees.
Hospital leaders admit that their workers received no on-the-job training for treating Ebola patients. However, a hospital spokesperson maintains that staff members followed the current guidelines set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Duncan was moved into an isolated room and health care workers wore the appropriate protective equipment.
But officials also admitted that the protective suits were too big for some nurses, and had to be taped in order to fit correctly. "Everybody is talking about how the nurses, how they are trying to put everything on the nurses," Robinson added. "You can't blame it on the employees, especially when they are doing what they are told to do."
Some nurses and doctors are now staying at the Dallas hospital as a precaution, scared to be near their families in case they come down with Ebola in the coming days. They are among a group of health care workers who are being watched closely by health officials. Also, health care workers who went into Duncan's hospital room have been put on a do-not-fly list.
Complete Coverage Of Ebola In North Texas
Experts are calling this a public relations nightmare for Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Several patients are staying away and canceling their previously scheduled appointments and surgeries.
Dr. Toby Buchanan runs the health care management program at Dallas Baptist University. He offered some advice for the Dallas hospital. "Make sure you're doing everything that you can right from this point forward to isolate the virus," Buchanan said Thursday. "Make sure it doesn't spread any further. That's going to be the key thing involved in restoring confidence later."
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