Advertisement 2 people monitored for Ebola in Sacramento County CA officials won't name hospitals prepared to handle Ebola patients Share Shares Copy Link Copy

California officials have been working for weeks to prepare for the potential of treating an Ebola patient in the state.Watch report: 2 monitored in Sacramento Co. for EbolaDespite state officials' constant conversations with hospitals, it's still not clear which California hospitals -- if any -- would be designated to care for an Ebola patient.At a news conference last week, the state's top health officials said they are choosing a few hospitals best prepared to do the job."It may be within a health care system or within a regional area -- hospitals that we know are fully prepared," said Dr. Gil Chavez, the deputy director of the California Department of Public Health and the state's chief of infectious diseases. "And if we have a patient, we can actually transfer patients to those hospitals."But the California Hospital Association said Wednesday no such plans have been made."Whether we're going to move in that direction or not is undetermined, but it is a topic of discussion," said the organization's vice president, Jan Emerson-Shea.In addition, a spokesman for the CDPH would not say on Wednesday whether the state still intends to designate Ebola-specific hospitals.One U.S. patient treated for Ebola went to Emory University in Atlanta. Another was treated at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland.Both hospitals are considered to be among those specially prepared to care for Ebola.It's not clear whether a California patient with the same diagnosis would be taken out of state for treatment.In Sacramento County, health officials are monitoring two people who recently traveled to West Africa, where the Ebola outbreak is centered, but officials said neither person is showing symptoms and neither has been hospitalized."Our directive to all of the hospitals is that they need to be prepared to take care of an Ebola patient at least for a minimum of two days because that's about how long it would take for us to get a definitive diagnosis," said Dr. Olivia Kasirye, Sacramento County's health officer.Only then would health officials decide whether the patient would be transferred, and where, Kasirye said.Although there are no suspected cases of Ebola in California, public anxiety over the illness has been high since two nurses in Dallas contracted the virus after treating a patient.The CDPH has launched a new Ebola hotline to answer questions from worried residents.Although the hospital association has said hospitals are ready to handle Ebola, the state's nurses said no hospital in California is fully ready.Nurses have been demanding better training and protective gear and have asked Gov. Jerry Brown to mandate hospitals to provide both.The California Department of Public Health has established an Ebola hotline call center to respond to public inquiries related to Ebola, announced Dr. Ron Chapman, CDPH director and state health officer.The hotline, 855-421-5921 will be in operation from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.