To become one of the eight hospitals in New York State that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has designated as “Ebola ready,” New York City’s Bellevue Hospital upgraded isolation rooms and is building a separate laboratory to handle blood work, according to an article in Scientific American magazine.

Bellevue also added extra electrical capacity to isolation rooms in case the patient needs intensive care.

"The hospital is particularly well suited due to its long history of being on the front lines of epidemics and emerging public health threats. That includes managing an isolation unit for diseases such as tuberculosis for many years with support from and collaboration with the city health department," said hospital spokesperson Ian Michaels.  

Bellevue's philosophy for treating a confirmed Ebola case is to have as few people as possible exposed to the patient, and to make sure those people are at the highest level of experience and competency, the article said.

Read the article.