CDC chief on second Ebola case: There was a breach in protocol

CBS News ^ | October 11, 2014 | REBECCA KAPLAN

[maggief]

The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said there was "clearly" a breach in protocol that led to a Texas health care worker contracting Ebola after treating a Liberian man who later died from the virus, although authorities do not yet know what that breach was.

"We're deeply concerned about this new development," Dr. Thomas Frieden said in an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday. "I think the fact that we don't know of a breach in protocol is concerning because clearly there was a breach in protocol. We have the ability to prevent the spread of Ebola by caring safely for patients."

"The fact is that the individual who became ill was, as per protocol, self monitoring. Immediately when they developed symptoms they isolated themselves, they were promptly isolated at the hospital so that any further spread from that individual was stopped," Frieden added.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

“...overwhelming Democratic.”

The correct word is “Democrat.” There is nothing democratic about this bunch. Nothing at all.

[penelopesire]

I think it may be time for you to take a leave of absence if at all possible sweet SE. So worried about you in light of this information.

[maggief]

http://archive.courier-journal.com/article/20121217/NEWS01/312170059/KentuckyOne-s-Dr-Dan-Varga-takes-Texas-job

Dec. 17, 2012

Dr. Daniel Varga, KentuckyOne Health’s departing chief clinical officer, has been hired as chief clinical officer and senior executive vice president of Texas Health Resources.

Late last month, officials at KentuckyOne said Varga made the decision to leave effective Jan. 4, but declined to elaborate further on the departure.

In Texas, Varga will be responsible for issues such as quality and patient safety, and transforming the organization from “hospital-centric” to “a patient-centered, fully integrated health system,” officials there said. Texas Health Resources is one of the ...

[dfwgator]

“Mistakes were made.”

[penelopesire]

Thanks for info! You are fast!

[stanne]

Protocol?

The protocol is to pretend it’s not a problem and let people in from west Africa

[SE Mom]

Bingo maggie!

Just read somewhere on twitter the nurse is “unable to identify protocol breach”. That’s per CDC so possibly they’re actually going to examine their protocol. No - not holding my breath.

Obviously some things are being done right or we’d have a lot more cases by now. Very confusing and mysterious.

[HandyDandy]

Close, but more like Sesame Street. Former health director for NYC.

[maggief]

http://insiderlouisville.com/business/confirmed-drs-dan-varga-kim-alumbaugh-out-at-kentuckyone/

Confirmed: Drs. Dan Varga, Kim Alumbaugh out at KentuckyOne
by Terry Boyd

Two weeks after the University of Louisville and Catholic Health Initiatives/KentuckyOne announced a joint operating agreement, two major players in the first U of L/CHI merger have exited from Kentucky One.

Multiple insiders told Insider Louisville earlier this week that Dr. Dan Varga and his wife, Dr. Kim Alumbaugh, had left KentuckyOne simultaneously effective Monday.

We just got confirmation from CHI spokeswoman Barbara Mackovic:

Dr. Dan Varga made the decision to leave KentuckyOne Health. While his last day with KentuckyOne will be January 4, he is currently taking some time off during the holiday season. We appreciate his tenure with the organization and the contributions he has made during that time. Dr. Varga played a key role in the formation of the two-party merger to form KentuckyOne Health and has been a resource and liaison for KentuckyOne medical staff members. We wish him much success in his career. A national search is underway for Dr. Varga’s successor.

Mackovic stated in an email that she’s awaiting information on Alumbaugh.

Attempts to reach Varga and Alumbaugh directly were unsuccessful.

The news stunned Louisville’s medical community because – as one source noted – “Dan (Varga) was the guy who would be king. And rightfully so.”

Multiple sources told Insider Louisville back in 2010 and 2011 that Varga – an internal medicine physician and a member of the distinguished Varga family, who includes Brown-Forman CEO Paul Varga – was to be CEO of what was referred to internally as Kentucky Statewide Network.

At the time, Varga was St. Joseph Health System chief medical officer. He had previously been chief medical officer at Norton Healthcare, based in Louisville.

KSN would have been the statewide system created by merging Denver-based CHI’s St. Joseph Health System, based in Lexington, with Louisville-based Jewish Hospital & St. Mary Healthcare and University of Louisville Hospital and the University Medical Center.

Combined, the systems would have more than 3,000 physicians and more than 90 locations across Kentucky, with combined annual revenues of more than $2.7 billion.

But the first CHI/U of L Hospital merger proposal died an agonizing death after Kentucky officials nixed it over issues related to Roman Catholic Ethics and Religious Directives. ERDs and church strictures forbid abortion, contraception and living wills, with critics arguing successfully that Catholic orthodoxy would have conflicted with policy at the publicly funded U of L Hospital, a safety net and teaching hospital.

After the KSN merger died Dec. 30, CHI absorbed JHSMH, then forged all the disparate pieces into KentuckyOne last January.

Instead of Varga, though, CHI installed Ruth Brinkley as KentuckyOne CEO, leaving Varga the odd man out, say our sources.

Which leads us to Alumbaugh.

Before the merger – perhaps prematurely – JHSMH acquired Alumbaugh’s 30-physician Total Woman OBGYN practice in August, 2011.

Total Woman is one of several such practices JHSMH packed into three floors of the Jewish Medical Center East building at 4121 Dutchmans Lane in DuPont. While JHSMH doesn’t “own” the group, the practices have to observe Roman Catholic policy on reproductive procedures.

Insiders rate the departure of Varga, though, as the bigger story. During the first merger negotiations, Varga was a crucial part of the CHI negotiating team as well as the liaison between CHI officials and community leaders in Louisville concerned about restrictions on reproductive procedures and people’s end of life intentions.

In November, 2011, multiple sources confirmed to Insider Louisville that Varga held closed-door meetings with various groups such as the Louisville Board of Rabbis and Cantors to assure them Jewish Hospital would essentially remain unaltered by the CHI/JHSMH/U of L Hospital merger into KSN.

Varga’s pitch was that the merger would be equivalent to a giant corporation acquiring different consumer brands, but allowing those brands to retain their public identifies along with more autonomy than under the initial proposal.

More as we know more.

[Grampa Dave]

At this point a lot of Freepers are thinking, "excuse my language, but how in the **** are the hospital personnel contracting this while supposedly in protective gear but Duncan’s family is not infected while interacting unprotected with his bodily fluids????"

The answer to the question is shown below. The woman in the protective gear is/was wearing the CDC's recommendation for protective gear.

Think of the VA and its problems when you think about the CDC. Both are controlled and staffed by liberals, who really aren't that concerned with doing their job properly. They are concerned about increasing their budgets and span of control instead of good results.

Thanks to Black Agnes for posting the link to this picture last week.

bgill has some scary photos of how well trained (not) our front line care givers are/were.

[SE Mom]

Thank you. We’re watching very closely at the hospital but it’s hard to know in an ER with multiple presenting symptoms around the clock.

[9YearLurker]

I mean our policy is a breach of what should be the protocol.

[BushCountry]

Was this nurse treating patients until she self-diagnosed herself?

[maggief]

Instead of Varga, though, CHI installed Ruth Brinkley as KentuckyOne CEO, leaving Varga the odd man out, say our sources.

Ruth Brinkley
CEO at KentuckyOne Health

[SaxxonWoods]

If Ebola had airborne capability we would have hundreds of cases here and in Europe by now, and the disease would have exploded in Africa.

The type of mutation required for it to go airborne has never happened in medical history. It’s science fiction silliness.

Medical workers would be the first to rebel if the protocol wasn’t working. Duncan exposed a lot of people prior to the medical worker being exposed. There should be more cases by now if the fear has any basis. A mistake in protocol is thousands of times more likely than some ‘mystery transmission’ being created in panicked minds.

The Enterovirus is more dangerous than Ebola, is airborne and present in 45 states, has killed and paralyzed more Americans than Ebola, and apparently has thousands of carriers. Yet it is being ignored.

[Grampa Dave]

"The breach in protocol was allowing Thomas Eric Duncan into the United States in the first place."

There is absolutely nothing to worry about!

[GOPJ]

The woman went home to her family - talked to friends - treated other people in the hospital... went out to a restaurant for dinner...

And the ONLY THING THE DAMN CDC is worried about is teaching proper ways in and out of space suits?

[SE Mom]

From what I can gather she stayed home from work for last two days - maybe Wednesday/Thursday? ..began low-grade fever Friday and test came back last night positive.

[Grampa Dave]

Who was escorted of the podium?

Thanks

[penelopesire]

Hmmm..sounds like he saw the writing on the wall and got the hell out of there before it became basically a socialist type mega hospital system.