The news that a nurse has contracted the first-ever case of Ebola transmitted in the United States could make it more likely that any future Ebola patients in the United States might come to Missoula. That nurse in Dallas became infected while caring for a patient from west Africa.
Yesterday, the head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious DiseasesAnthony Faucci told ABC News that if a patient tests positive for Ebola at an American hospital again, it might make sense for them to be sent to one of the four hospitals in the country where staff has been specially trained to deal with Ebola, one of those hospitals is Providence St. Patrick in Missoula.
"I think that is not a bad idea at all," Faucci said, "because in addition to having all the proper equipment, you really do need training and as in often the case in medicine when someone or some group does things more than once, two, three, four, five times, they get very good at it."
Montana Public Radio has asked Providence St. Patrick to comment on their readiness to take Ebola patients, and the likelihood they would be asked to take one if another infection appears in the U.S. The hospital has not made anyone available for comment.
But Ellen Leahy, director ofMissoula’s City-County Health Department told reporter Edward O’Brien she has no doubt St. Pat's is well-prepared to safely care for an Ebola patient.
