Hospitals in Connecticut are working to make sure they have the necessary resources to treat an Ebola case if one is diagnosed in our state.
“Whether it's Ebola, enterovirus or any other infectious disease, what do you need to do your job?” Rep. Rosa DeLauro asked hospital representatives from across the state on Friday while hosting a roundtable discussion.
The talk comes as Ebola concerns in the state continue to grow, and, according to DeLauro, federal funds for hospital preparedness continue to dwindle.
“You deal with life and death. I have been for a very long time concerned with what we do about shortchanging resources,” said DeLauro.
Table topics included talks about regionalization, training and practice. It's the same practice Yale-New Haven Hospital put to play just last week when a doctoral student who had traveled to Liberia displayed symptoms indicative of the virus.
“We were treating this as the real thing, because up until the point that the patient was ruled out by laboratory tests we thought it was,” said James Paturas with the Yale-New Haven Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response.
The student tested negative for the virus, but medical experts remind there is no guarantee every patient will or that the adequate treatment will be available.
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“Not every hospital has the resources or should have the resources to treat patients with ebola,” said Kim Hostetler with the Connecticut Hospital Association.
Experts agree it’s not only about the steps taken during treatment, but also the steps in the days before and the days that follow. For example, in West Haven an unmarked police car has been placed outside the home of six quarantined residents after they returned from West Africa on Saturday.
“We are diligently following the protocol set out by the governor,” said West Haven Mayor Edward O’Brien.
The family is showing no signs of ebola. The mayor says they voluntarily sequestered themselves and were quarantined by the state health commissioner on Tuesday.
“It is something we have to do,” said Mayor O’Brien. “Everyone is safe in West Haven. It is more precautionary because of the governor’s order.”
That order also requires the family to stay at home for 21 days, as well as report their temperature twice a day. For now, it will also require the city to foot the bill.
“They governor said they are going to try and partner with the city to take care of the cost, but at this point it is entirely on the city,” said Mayor O’Brien.
According to Governor Malloy it has not yet been determined how such a partnership might work.
“We are not going to hang out anyone to dry on this,” said Gov. Malloy. “We are going to work with local governments, health departments and police departments.”
Residents we spoke with in West Haven say they have no problem paying for safety, but Rep. DeLauro is also calling for more federal funds.
“Can’t we put together some sort of public health emergency fund on a continuous basis to help us deal with what comes up?” said rep. DeLauro.
She is also calling for collaboration between hospitals big and small to devise a state strategy the entire country can follow.
