For Sick Travelers from West Africa, Bellevue Could be First Stop

As the city's oldest hospital, Bellevue has long been a destination for New Yorkers with infectious diseases like tuberculosis. People still come to Bellevue with TB — and some are even detained there for not taking their medicine and endangering the public — but less than in the past. So hospital officials have upgraded some of the isolation rooms, just in case coughing patients arrive with something much deadlier.

"We've built a dedicated isolation area specifically designed for confirmed [Ebola] patients," said Dr. Ross Wilson, Chief Medical Officer of the Health and Hospitals Corporation, the city system Bellevue is part of. "We haven't had to use it yet."

Wilson said the step is necessary, because Bellevue has long been the go-to place for anyone arriving at JFK airport who may be contagious.

The upgrade includes dedicating two autoclaves that would normally sterilize medical equipment to heating any protective gear to kill the virus, before it can be discarded with other medical waste.

To transport contagious patients from either JFK or other hospitals to Bellevue, the city has made special arrangements between HHC and the Fire Department, which operates the public ambulance system.