U.S. Ambassador ‘Blown Away’ by New Ebola Clinic in Liberia

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said Tuesday that she was “blown away” by a new American-built clinic in Liberia being used to treat Ebola-infected healthcare workers.

On Twitter, Ambassador Samantha Power also provided one of the first glimpses into a much-needed facility.

Power is traveling across the Ebola-infected countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone to demonstrate U.S. support for West Africa and to draw support for international aid, according to a statement by the U.S. Mission to the UN. During her weeklong visit, Power will visit Ebola coordination centers and meet with international and U.S. leaders to discuss international aid efforts.

The new hospital will open in November, with a staff of 65 officers, Power said. The facility will have 25 beds for any healthcare workers who fall ill from Ebola in West Africa, according to the USAID’s blog, which released additional photos of the clinic. USAID added that the clinic, consisting of several tents linked by passageways, was built in the style of military trauma care but was customized to treat highly infectious patients.

The intention to create a separate clinic for ill health workers was announced in September by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Public Health Service as a means to protect frontline workers, who are often made vulnerable to the virus by the sheer amount of exposure and a lack of resources.

As of Oct. 23, a total of 450 health-care workers have been infected with the virus as of Oct. 23, and 244 have died, according to the World Health Organization. Almost 5,000 have died of the virus in the current outbreak, almost entirely in the affected West African nations hit hardest by the disease, according to WHO estimates.