Dallas’ Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital is defending how it handled its first Ebola patient amid increasing complaints from critics — including some of its own nurses.
The hospital released a point-by-point rebuttal Thursday, arguing that it was not in chaos after Thomas Eric Duncan was admitted Sept. 28.
“The assertions do not reflect actual facts learned from the medical record and interactions with clinic caregivers,” Presbyterian’s written statement said. “Our hospital followed the Centers for Disease Control ... guidelines and sought additional guidance and clarity.”
But one Presbyterian nurse, Briana Aguirre, told NBC’s Today show Thursday that nurses asked for help but got no response.
“Our infectious disease department was contacted to ask, ‘What is the protocol?’ ” she said. “And their answer was: ‘We don’t know. We’re going to have to call you back.’ ”
Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said investigators consider the first few days Duncan was hospitalized the most likely time that nurses Nina Pham and Amber Vinson became infected.
Investigators have not identified how the two health care workers were contaminated.
Concerns from some Presbyterian nurses that missteps placed them and patients at risk were first voiced Wednesday by the National Nurses United union.
Rebuttal
Among the allegations the hospital challenged in Thursday’s statement:
Claims that Duncan remained in an area with other patients for several hours before he was placed in isolation. Hospital officials said he was isolated immediately.
Claims of mishandling blood and other specimens. Officials said samples were sent through the hospital’s pneumatic tubes only during Duncan’s first visit to the emergency room Sept. 25. After he returned Sept. 28, the blood was sealed and hand-delivered.
Complaints that personal protective equipment was inadequate and left them exposed, particularly at the neck. Nurses said they had to use penetrable medical tape to try to protect themselves. The hospital defended the equipment, saying it met the CDC’s guidelines at the time. Hospital officials said that it was the CDC that recommended using tape to pinch together the necks of the protective gowns and that hoods were ordered for the staff after concerns about the tape were raised.
Complaints that medical waste was “piled to the ceiling” because there were no plans for disposal. Officials said waste was handled appropriately and that those allegations were a “gross exaggeration.”
Pham herself came out strongly Thursday in support of the Presbyterian team that has been treating her.
“I am #presbyproud!” Pham said in a statement issued Thursday before she was transferred to a National Institutes of Health facility in Maryland.
‘The best’
“I appreciate everything that my co-workers have done to care for me at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. I’m doing really well thanks to this team, which is the best in the world. I believe in my talented co-workers,” she said.
Dallas’ Ebola crisis has has become a lesson for nurses and hospital administrators nationwide, including the more than 100,000 critical-care nurses who confront infectious diseases, said Connie Barden, chief clinical officer for the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses in Southern California.
“The response I’m seeing ... has been nothing short of inspirational,” she said. “Very few health care institutions are not paying attention to this now. ... There needs to be a strong commitment between the bedside care team and the leaders of the hospital. That’s the key to fixing this.”
Staff writer Sherry Jacobson contributed to this report, which contains material from The Associated Press.
