The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) announced the creation of an Ebola Task Force Wednesday, which aims to help home care agencies protect their workers from the spread of the Ebola virus.
“I am proud to announce the creation of an Ebola Task Force, chaired by Barbara Citarella, and will include many who have already volunteered to continue NAHC’s work on insuring that optimum protocols and guidance are identified and provided to NAHC’s member agencies,” says NAHC Chairman Andrea Devoti in a written statement.
Previous to NAHC’s announcement the association wrote a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding the home care and hospice community and their interest in securing guidance from CDC on appropriate protocols relative to Ebola for home care workers. The letter was also shared with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“We respectfully request that youdevelop and issue explicit guidance focused on protocols for agencies providing health and supportive services in the home,” says NAHC President Val J. Halamandaris in the letter. “The guidance should include protocols on proper advance screening for potential patients related to travel history and symptoms, proper referral of suspected cases, and other protective measures that should be taken. Home care and hospice agencies want to respond according to the most effective Ebola protocols.”
The association also extended sessions during its annual meeting to address how to prevent infection control breaches and other Ebola-related prevention topics.
Read the letter here.
Written by Cassandra Dowell
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