Cuomo pushes statewide Ebola plan

Selects eight hospitals as regional centers for Ebola treatment

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a statewide Ebola plan on Oct. 16 that called for the coordination of health care, Port Authority and Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers to combat a potential spread of the Ebola virus should it cross New York’s borders. He also designated eight hospitals, including Long Island’s North Shore-LIJ, in Nassau County, and Stony Brook University Hospital, in Suffolk, to act as regional centers for treating patients with Ebola.

The announcement came days after two nurses at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, in Dallas, contracted the virus after treating the country’s first Ebola victim, calling into question whether health care institutions are prepared to combat the virus.

Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its own safety protocols for health care workers who treat patients with Ebola-like symptoms. Its major change called for a more specific definition of “personal protective equipment,” including a suit that covers the entire body. The CDC also established more expansive protocols for the removal and decontamination of the suits.

Cuomo said that the state Department of Health had ordered all hospitals, treatment centers and ambulance services to follow protocols established by the CDC for identifying, isolating and evaluating potential Ebola patients. He also scheduled an education session for health care workers, to be held in New York City on Oct. 21.

The specifics of the order include authorizing a chain of command for treating patients with Ebola-like symptoms, outlining minimum requirements for personal protective equipment, conducting training, keeping written logs of those patients, designating isolation rooms, establishing transportation protocols and requiring hospitals to report their data to the DOH.

To view the entire order, go to http://bit.ly/1wj13L2.

“Protecting the people of this state is one of our top priorities in government,” Cuomo said in a written release. “I want all New Yorkers to know that we are doing everything necessary to safeguard against the risks of Ebola.”

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