Today Providence Saint Patrick Hospital in Missoula said that it is ready to admit a patient with Ebola if the need arises. A hospital press release says there are no immediate plans for an Ebola patient to be sent there, but that it has received funding from the National Institutes of Health to treat such patients.
The release says its special Care and Isolation Unit is separate from other patient areas and has equipment that “provides an extraordinarily high level of clinical isolation compared to standard hospital rooms.”
Staff at St. Patrick’s are highly trained in caring for patients with serious infectious diseases, including Ebola, because of its close proximity to Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton.
Dr. George Risi is an infectious disease specialist in Missoula who works with St. Patrick’s, he says he’s not worried about Ebola becoming a problem in the United States.
"Remember that the tramission patterns of this virus are very well known, and so its just not conceivable in my own mind that we'll ever be in a situation like western Africa finds itself right now." Risi says, "However, there is a very real possibility that someone is going to board a plane who is incubating the disease, has no symptoms, has no fever and may get ill after they get either here or to Europe."
