A national group on Thursday defended the Dallas hospital at the center of three confirmed cases of Ebola in the United States. Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas is a "fine organization" with a "long and distinguished history of delivering quality care in its community," American Hospital Association President Rich Umbdenstock said in a statement. "Their staff has worked tirelessly to conquer this challenge and to continue to deliver high-quality care to their patients and community under extraordinary circumstances. They have and deserve our complete support and admiration," he added.
As two nurses from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who helped care the first U.S. Ebola patient now battle the deadly virus themselves, federal and state health officials are trying to determine how to more effectively keep health care workers safe. This requires extensive training and the right personal protective equipment, also known as PPE. There are a number of different PPE options that offer different levels of coverage and risk. More is not always better, and there are a number of potential pitfalls. Dr. Michael Reilly, director of the Center for Disaster Medicine at New York Medical College, told CBS News that many hospitals are wrestling with what type of gear to provide to their medical staff.
A new survey finds the public has a lot to learn about how the Ebola virus is transmitted, which could help explain the growing fears of the disease. The survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that while nearly all adults (97 percent) know a person can become infected through direct contact with the blood or other body fluids of someone who is sick with Ebola, there are still misconceptions. (KHN is an editorially independent program of the foundation.) One third of respondents are unaware they cannot become infected through the air. About 45 percent are unaware they cannot contract Ebola by shaking hands with someone who has been exposed to the virus but who does not have symptoms.
Insurance consultants were shocked recently to learn that Obama administration rules allow large companies to offer 2015 worker health plans that don't include hospital benefits. Now the administration is concerned too. Treasury Department officials are preparing to reverse course on an official calculator that permits plans without hospital coverage to pass the health law's strictest standard for large employers, said industry lawyers who have spoken to them. These sources expect the administration to disallow such coverage by the end of the year. The calculator is an online spreadsheet developed by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Economic growth is most often measured by growth in gross domestic product (GDP), which is the value of all final goods and services produced in an economy. Recent revisions to the first quarter 2014 estimates of U.S. GDP growth have raised concerns over the extent to which the Affordable Care Act (ACA) might be impacting economic growth. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) first estimated GDP growth for the first quarter of 2014 to be 0.1 percent on an annualized basis. Then a revised second estimate was made, which indicated adecline in GDP of 1.0 percent on an annualized basis.
Hackensack University Medical Center and its parent company are merging with Meridian Health and its six hospitals in Ocean and Monmouth counties to create the state's largest hospital network. The new organization, to be called Hackensack Meridian Health, will employ 23,400 people and have more than $3.4 billion in revenues, eclipsing Barnabas Health, currently the state's largest health care system. The "combined organization would serve a much broader geography, expanding access to services and developing a vast array of new non-hospital services to conveniently serve area communities," Robert C. Garrett, president and CEO of Hackensack University Health Network, said. The plan to merge was announced Thursday.