Nebraska Hospital Promises 'World Class Care' For Third American With Ebola
A major hospital in Omaha, Nebraska announced Thursday that it will be treating an aid worker who has been infected with the deadly Ebola virus.
Officials at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha said Thursday that Dr. Richard Sacra, a 53-year-old originally from Massachusetts, would be receiving treatment at their hospital, which boasts one of the largest biocontainment units in the country.
Sacra contracted the disease while working with the delivery of babies in West Africa for the Christian missionary organization SIM. His wife, Debbie Sacra, said at a press conference held at the University of Massachusetts Medical School that her husband was clearly sick, but in good spirits, when he boarded a plane from Africa to the U.S. on Thursday.
"He said Rick is clearly sick, but he was in very good spirits […] and he walked onto the plane," she said, quoting the doctor who is treating her husband. "We are really encouraged by that news and looking forward to reuniting with him."
Nebraska Medical Center Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold told media outlets that Sacra was expected to arrive at the hospital on Friday morning, adding that the patient will be receiving "world-class care" at the facility.
Sacra is the third American aid worker to be infected by the Ebola virus that is currently ravaging West Africa. Dr. Kent Brantly and aid worker Nancy Writebol had also been infected with Ebola while working in Liberia, but they successfully recovered after being transferred to the U.S. for medical care and receiving doses of the experimental drug ZMapp.
