A legislative spending oversight panel today approved up to $800,000 in spending for the Ohio Department of Health to deal with lingering Ebola issues or future cases.

A state legislative-spending oversight panel approved as much as $800,000 for the Ohio Department of Health to help hospitals deal with lingering Ebola issues or future cases.

Yesterday�s vote came as Ohio�s congressional delegation asked the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to beef up its support to the state after an Ebola-stricken nurse flew from Cleveland to Dallas with a low-grade fever.

Every member of the state�s U.S. House delegation � including House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester, who rarely signs delegation letters because of his leadership role � signed a letter to CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden. It asks the center to provide support to Ohio in �determining any potential exposure, identifying those most at risk, and, if necessary, containing and treating anyone that may have come in contact with the Ebola virus.�

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Lynne Bratka, interim chief of the Bureau of Health Preparedness at the Ohio Department of Health, said that with the state�s spending request yesterday, the state is �at or a little bit above� CDC protocols.

The Health Department asked for $300,000 to bolster the state�s stockpile of protective equipment, including full-body suits, in case a local hospital runs out of its own equipment.

�This purchase will enable us to literally quadruple our inventory of supplies,� said Harry Kamdar, chief financial officer for the Department of Health, noting that a suit is usually delivered within 24 to 48 hours of it being ordered.

According to paperwork filed with the Controlling Board, the Health Department already has a 16 patient-day supply of personal protective suits, and the new funding allows for an additional 96 patient-day supply.

A �patient day� is the equipment needed to handle one patient over a 24-hour period, Bratka said. This estimates 10 health-care workers per shift requiring about 240 changes of equipment.

A suit is worn only once before it is disposed of, Bratka said, adding that a one-day supply for one patient costs about $7,000.

The Health Department also got approval to spend up to $500,000 to contract with Absolute Bio-Recovery Services of Cincinnati if a cleanup situation arises that a local entity cannot handle.

�Some of the companies I contacted did not respond, or I was told that corporate decisions were made that they were instructed they would not be doing Ebola cleanup,� said Gene Phillips, chief of the Bureau of Environmental Health at the Health Department.

Phillips said one residence has been cleaned in northeastern Ohio.

Rep. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark, said his biggest concern is �that in an event that we have an active case in Ohio, what happens with the protective gear in terms of its disposal?�

Phillips said officials are working with the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that any medical waste would be treated properly.

The spending tied to Ebola would come from a combination of state funds and a federal public-health emergency-preparedness grant, said Harry Kamdar, the health department�s chief financial officer.

Rep. Jeff McClain, R-Upper Sandusky, a member of the Controlling Board, said he is satisfied with the state�s efforts.

�God willing we don�t have a disaster that nobody can handle,� he said. �I think the governor has done much better than the feds have. He�s been much more proactive.�

Three people are quarantined and the state is monitoring 142 people, including as many as seven in Franklin County, after a Dallas nurse who had been caring for Thomas Eric Duncan traveled in the Cleveland/Akron area last week. Duncan died earlier this month, and the nurse, Amber Vinson, has since been diagnosed with Ebola along with another nurse.

Ohio�s congressional delegation wants the CDC to explain the policies that allowed Vinson to travel to Ohio and �what changes have been made to ensure the same does not happen in the future."

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, sent a letter yesterday to Frieden, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Ebola response coordinator Ron Klain asking them to take a more active role in helping the state prepare for any Ebola threat in the state. He asked the CDC to create a plan should any Ohioans exhibit symptoms of Ebola.

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