By: Doualy Xaykaothao, KERA News
Like a lot of people, attorney Charla Aldous watched closely, back in October, the images of a young Dallas nurse with Ebola, boarding a small plane at Love Field. The 26-year-old critical care worker was off to the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, uncertain of her fate. She recovered, and a month later, this…
Aldous: “Nina Pham is calling for you. And I was like, whoah…that has to be the Nina Pham.”
Aldous called Nina back, and soon got an earful about Texas Health Resources, Nina’s employer.
Aldous: “Everything that I’ve read, from Texas Health Resources, including their testimony to Congress, was that their employees had been appropriately trained. But I can tell you, when I read them, and I heard what Nina had to tell me, it was the difference between daylight and dark.”
There were A LOT of visits, and LONG conversations…about lack of training on Ebola, about how nurses were improvising with protective gear, and how Pham didn’t give the hospital approval to release a video seen online and on TV. Pham apparently thought it was only for nurses or training purposes.
Aldous: “From day one, Nina has told me I will never feel right it until they tell the truth…and when it became apparent to us that filing a lawsuit was the only way to make that happen…that’s when she decided to move forward. It wasn’t an easy decision.”
Texas Health Resources spokesman Wendell Watson would not address specific allegations, but he says the hospital continues to support Nina Pham.
Watson: “Nina served bravely during a most difficult time, as we all struggled to deal with the first case of Ebola, to arrive in a US hospital’s emergency room…As distressing as the lawsuit is to us, we remain optimistic that we can resolve this matter with Nina.”
In a story published over the weekend, Nina Pham told Dallas Morning News reporter Jennifer Emily about life after Ebola.
Emily: “When you first meet her, she doesn’t look like she’s sick…she is losing her hair, but it’s not obvious when you first look at her.”
Emily says Pham is a quiet person, shy, and polite. It seemed hard for her to share her story…especially when talking about the patient she treated at Texas Health Presbyterian. Thomas Eric Duncan was the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. He died in October.
Emily: “No-one knew for certain…they had to wait for the lab tests…she broke down crying.”
And now, Pham has nightmares, physical aches and pains, liver problems. She’s frightened about her future, Emily says.
Emily: “She doesn’t know what the future holds for her health, what is it like to survive Ebola…what will it be like in….should she have children.”
Pham told Emily she wants to take a stand for nurses, to send the message that hospitals should listen more to healthcare workers and their needs. Even today, some people are afraid to touch her hands.
Emily: “When I walked in, I shook her hand, and it was only after I shook her hand, and sitting down, I thought, you know, some people are afraid to do that. And It’s a little mind-boggling, she’s not going to give you Ebola.”
According to the lawsuit filed, Nina pham will seek un-specified damages for physical pain and mental anguish, medical expenses and loss of future earnings.
Doualy Xaykaothao, KERA News.
Loading ...