UPDATED: Georgia clinic says no threat after screening possible Ebola patient

Published 3:00 pm Thursday, April 23, 2015

DALTON, Ga. — A north Georgia clinic is in the clear after Gordon County hospital officials announced there is no threat of Ebola at a facility where a patient was being screened for the deadly virus. 

Kim Brazell, director of marketing and public relations for Calhoun, Georgia-based Gordon Hospital said the clinic on Curtis Parkway was taking “an abundance of caution to ensure the health and safety of our patients, our employees and our community.”

Thursday morning, an adult patient came to one of Gordon Hospital’s physician practices and answered the standard Centers for Disease Control Ebola screening questionnaire positively, suggesting that the patient may have been exposed to the Ebola virus.

The staff immediately isolated the patient, and closed the clinic as a result. The Georgia Department of Public Health was notified per state protocol and, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease control and the hospital’s physician staff, is determining whether the patient is at risk for the Ebola virus.

“Since the Ebola virus was first diagnosed in the United States, all of our clinics and our hospital have been screening patients upon registration according to the Georgia Department of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control protocol guidelines,” Brazell said.

Details for this story were reported by The Dalton Daily Citizen in Dalton, Georgia.