November 5, 2014

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Wegoye, a resident of Haddon Township in New Jersey, will be working in Liberia's third-largest city, Buchanan, in one of 17 new Ebola treatment centers being built by the U.S. military. Although he committed to four months of service, Wegoye may stay longer.

"The risks I totally understand," Wegoye told The Inquirer. "But I also understand that unless the international community responds, and sends over personnel to help, this problem is not going to go away and will keep getting worse. People in Liberia will continue dying."

Wegoye works as an Emergency Department Nurse at Inspira Medical Center in Woodbury, New Jersey. According to The Inquirer, in his stationed Ebola treatment center, Wegoye will administer direct patient care while wearing a protective suit for up to four hours a day. As Ebola makes people lose fatal amounts of fluid through vomiting and diarrhea, Wegoye will be giving patients IVs and liquids by mouth to keep them hydrated.

Wegoye is originally from Uganda and came to the United States to study nursing at Drexel University. "I see the desperation in Liberia and I understand because I grew up in Uganda," he said to The Inquirer. "I've seen people die from very curable diseases in Uganda, and I can't imagine how much worse this must be."

When Wegoye comes back to America he said he will self-quarantine for the 21-day period currently required by the state of New Jersey for people exposed to Ebola.

For more information about Drexel University’s plans and policies regarding Ebola, please visit the Student Health Center’s website. The current Ebola outbreak is centered in four West African countries (Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria), and does not pose a significant risk to the U.S. public. 

by Helen Nowotnik '14