UCSD Named Ebola Treatment Hospital

UCSD and the other UC Medical Centers will only treat new Ebola cases should any arise in California

The UC San Diego Medical Center has been named one of five California hospitals ready to treat Ebola, state officials announced Friday.

UCSD, along with the UC Medical Centers in Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles and San Francisco, are equipped to provide in-patient care for people diagnosed with Ebola, according to a joint news release from the University of California and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH.)

UCSD and the other UC Medical Centers will only treat new Ebola cases should any arise in California. Ebola patients flying into the U.S. will not be brought to these hospitals, according to the news release.

The safety and preparedness of American hospitals was questioned after two Texas nurses contracted the virus from a patient.

โ€œIt is our intent that only health care workers who are members of a core designated group or who volunteer to do so will provide care to confirmed Ebola patients,โ€ said Dr. John Stobo, UC Senior Vice President for Health Sciences and Services, in the release.

Other hospitals are also expected to be named โ€œpriority hospitalsโ€ for Ebola treatment.

As of Oct. 25, more than 10,000 Ebola cases had been reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.) Four cases of Ebola were diagnosed in the U.S., but there have been no confirmed cases in California.

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