NYC Doc Tests Positive for Ebola

Thanks for the info.

Your welcome Gato.

Mayor DeBlasio spoke earlier commending responders and the procedure that has been in place for weeks. He said the transition to Bellevue which is one of the designated hospitals in Manhattan went extremely smoothly.

Any New Yorkers who can answer a question for me? I was born and raised in New York and lived most of my life there or on Long Island. If I recall correctly, Bellevue was a mental hospital and was closed many years ago. I also recall part of Bellevue being in Queens which is where I lived. Am I correct in this? I would appreciate any information that anyone can provide. Thank you in advance. I hope the doctor will make a full recovery. docsgirl

Hi docsgirl, I was born and raised in NYC too. Now I live north of the city. Bellevue is well known for its psychiatric services and emergency services although it also provides other specialties like cardiology, neurology, etc. I'm not quite sure of the history of the hospital but I think it opened in the 1700's and it was probably mostly for psychiatric patients at the time, hence the "joke" we always heard as kids about being committed to Bellevue.

Like so many of the other NYC hospitals, Bellevue has "satellite" hospitals in Queens. I know of one for children's psychiatric services.

On 10/23/2014 focksie said:

Hi docsgirl, I was born and raised in NYC too. Now I live north of the city. Bellevue is well known for its psychiatric services and emergency services although it also provides other specialties like cardiology, neurology, etc. I'm not quite sure of the history of the hospital but I think it opened in the 1700's and it was probably mostly for psychiatric patients at the time, hence the "joke" we always heard as kids about being committed to Bellevue.

Like so many of the other NYC hospitals, Bellevue has "satellite" hospitals in Queens. I know of one for children's psychiatric services.

The history was really bad, but then again, I assume most psychiatric hospitals were horrible years ago.

CNN

The doctor, identified as Craig Spencer, 33, came back from West Africa about 10 days ago, and developed a fever, nausea, pain and fatigue Wednesday night.

The 33-year-old physician, employed at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, has been in isolation at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan since Thursday morning, the official said.

At a news conference Thursday, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio sought to allay public concerns about the spread of the deadly virus, saying that "careful protocols were followed every step of the way" in the city's handling of the case. The hospitalized doctor has "worked closely" with health officials, the mayor said.

The doctor exhibited symptoms of the Ebola virus for "a very brief period of time" and had direct contact with "very few people" in New York, de Blasio told reporters.

Hi Noel, I just started reading some of the fascinating history:

Bellevue Hospital, you might have heard, once had a very notorious psychiatric ward. But those horror stories have only distracted from the rather breathtaking -- and heart-breaking -- history of this historic institution, a lifeline not only for the sick, but for the poor, the incarcerated, the abandoned -- even the dead!

The hospital traces its origins to a six-bed almshouse that once sat near the location of New York City Hall today. Despite its humble and (to the modern eye) confusing original purposes, the almshouse was miles better than the barbaric medical procedures of early New York, courtesy the ominous sounding 'barber-surgeons'.

A series of yellow fever epidemics moved care for the sick to a former mansion called Belle Vue near Murray Hill -- and, in fact, with a strong connection to the Murray of said Hill. Soon the institution fulfilled a variety of roles and in rather ghastly conditions, from 'pest house' to execution ground, from a Pathological Museum to New York's first city morgue.

A great many medical advances came from Bellevue, not least of which the origins of the modern ambulance. But some of that progress has been obscured by the reputation of the Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital which opened in 1931 and 'hosted' a variety of famous people with disturbing issues. And in the 1980s, Bellevue would take on another grim role -- during the most distressing years of the AIDS crisis.

Spencer posted this image to Facebook on September 18 from Brussells, saying "Off to Guinea with Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

See photo on cnn link:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/23/health/new-york-possible-ebola-case/index.html

Thanks, focksie!

Good information.