Dallas hospital apologizes for Ebola failings

By Park Sae-jin Posted : October 29, 2014, 16:54 Updated : October 29, 2014, 16:56

 

The Dallas hospital at the heart of three U.S. Ebola cases has taken out a full-page newspaper advertisement to apologize for its failings.

Barclay Berdan, CEO of Texas Health Presbyterian, said that "mistakes were made in handling a very difficult challenge" after two nurses contracted the deadly virus from Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who died of Ebola on Oct. 8.

Duncan, 42, was the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola outside West Africa.

But in an open letter published in the Dallas Morning News, the hospital admitted it "did not correctly diagnose his symptoms as those of Ebola – and for this, we are deeply sorry."

Berdan used the advertisement to reject accusations that his hospital fell short of CDC (Centers for Disease Control) guidelines on treating Ebola, amid criticism over how two of its nurses, Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, contracted the disease from Duncan.

"Many of the theories and allegations being presented in the media do not align with facts stated in the medical record and the accounts of caregivers present on the scene," he wrote.

By Ruchi Singh
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