The Chief Medical Officer of one of Connecticut's largest hospital systems says his staff has been preparing for a potential Ebola patient for months.
"We've augmented our training" Hartford Healthcare's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rocco Orlando said during an interview Wednesday.
“We’re educating all of the physician practices of the 2500 docs that are on our medical staff so that they know how to screen for Ebola, and so then they can refer those folks to a hospital, to an emergency room,” Orlando said.
Hartford Healthcare operates a network of facilities, including Hartford Hospital, the Hospital of Central Connecticut, MidState Medical Center, Backus Hospital and Windham Hospital.
Emergency room staff has been trained to be mindful of patients with fever and with recent travel histories in West Africa, according to Orlando.
Republicans in the Connecticut House said they're happy with the steps that have been taken so far, but are pushing for public hearings with the Department of Public Health to make sure all steps are being taken across the state.
“The whole process unfortunately is learn as we go along," said State Rep. Prasad Prinivasan, a medical doctor himself. "That’s what’s happening here. We have the suits that everyone’s wearing, but if everyone’s wearing the suit, how did the nurse in Dallas acquire Ebola?"
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Prasad said he has no doubt that Connecticut's hospitals and doctors are some of the best in the world, but added that the state has nothing to lose by asking questions in a public forum to make sure everything possible is being done in the event that a patient turns up with the virus.
He said his biggest fear is that health care workers are the most vulnerable to infection.
“How are we training the healthcare provider? My concern is that no person providing care to these patients should acquire that in any form or fashion," Prasad said.
Dr. Orlando with Hartford Healthcare explained that most directives are coming from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, but emphasized the importance of opening the lines of communication among local, state and federal agencies.
“Although the likelihood of a mass infection across this country is exceedingly remote, I want to emphasize to all of your viewers that that is unlikely. At the same time to really contain this and any outbreak is to tell you that we need national and regional planning.”
Gov. Dannel Malloy will hold a news conference alongside state Department of Public Health Commissioner Jewel Mullen to update the state on Connecticut's precautionary measures at 2 p.m. Thursday outside the State Emergency Operations Center in Hartford.
