Providence St. Patrick Hospital issued a news release late Tuesday night to the hundreds of media inquiries they have received over the past few weeks regarding their preparations to treat any patients who may present with Ebola.

Here’s a brief summary of the Providence St. Patrick Hospital Care and Isolation Unit (CIU):

·         In 2007, through a contract awarded by the National Institutes of Health, the hospital renovated a patient care wing into a three-bed isolation unit with HEPA filtration, anterooms, and directional airflow.

·         The facility exists to care for employees of the National Institute of Health’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) in Hamilton, Montana; its scientists study a variety of infectious diseases. No RML employees have ever needed care in the CIU.

·         Specialized CIU training and education occurs regularly for clinical staff.

·         There are no plans to send patients to St. Patrick Hospital for Ebola treatment, nor has the hospital treated any Ebola patients. However, all hospitals and clinics should be prepared to care for unanticipated patients who may present with Ebola.

·         The best source of Ebola information can be found at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/.

·         The safety of our patients and staff is our number one focus.

More information about our Care and Isolation Unit (CIU) is located at the Providence St. Patrick Hospital website at www.saintpatrick.org.

 

 

 

 

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