The Associated Press
DALLAS (AP) — At the center of the U.S. Ebola crisis stands a hospital with almost 900 beds that performed a heart procedure on former President George W. Bush. Here’s a quick look at Texas Presbyterian Hospital:
HISTORY
The hospital opened in 1966 on the site of a former orphanage, according to its website. At the time, the facility was in the countryside, on a gentle slope dotted with pecan trees. The hospital is now surrounded by homes, businesses and highways in the northeast corner of Dallas.
PRESIDENTIAL PATIENT
Former President George W. Bush underwent a heart procedure there in August 2013 after doctors discovered an artery blockage during an annual physical.
The hospital complex also includes the Margot Perot Center for Women and Infants, named for the wife of billionaire and former presidential candidate Ross Perot.
RECORD OF CARE
The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission, an independent group that checks hospital-performance data against certain quality standards.
Medicare rates hospitals using its own set of quality standards, and its Hospital Compare website shows a mixed review when it comes to routine hospital infections.
Texas Health Presbyterian had fewer than expected infections from IV tubes called central lines, which deliver treatment straight into the bloodstream and are easy to contaminate, especially if doctors and nurses do not adequately wash their hands. But the hospital experienced more than expected urinary tract infections in patients with catheters.
The Hospital Compare site shows the hospital also had longer wait times in the emergency room than the national or state average.
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