Nina Pham, the nurse from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas who contracted Ebola earlier this month, has been transferred to National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Ms. Pham was admitted to the hospital's Special Clinical Studies Unit, a high-level containment facility. NIH Clinical Center is one of four hospitals in the nation — along with Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, The Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton, Mont. — with special units for patients with dangerous communicable diseases like Ebola.
The staff in the NIH unit — which includes infectious disease and critical care specialists — are trained in practices "optimized to prevent spread of potentially transmissible agents such as Ebola," according to an NIH news release.
The transfer decision was made between the hospital, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Texas Department of State Health Services, as well as Ms. Pham and her family.
A Texas Health Resources news release said the system believes the transfer was the "right decision" and in the "best interest of the hospital employees…and community" as many of Texas Health Presbyterian's healthcare providers have been "sidelined for continuous monitoring."
Ms. Pham was in good condition Thursday when she was transferred.
"It was a difficult decision to transfer Nina, a member of our own family and someone who is greatly loved and respected," said Gary Weinstein, MD, chief of pulmonology and critical care medicine. "We're so glad she has improved so much in such a short amount of time. Our prayers are with her, and she’ll be in wonderful hands at NIH."
The second nurse from Texas Health Presbyterian who contracted Ebola, Amber Vinson, was transferred to Emory University Hospital earlier this week.