The letter and the health system's newly aggressive communication strategy come shortly after Texas Health Resources hired PR firm Burson-Marsteller to provide crisis communications support.
The letter sought to address criticisms being aimed at the hospital's initial handling of the outbreak. The medical records obtained by the Associated Press from Duncan's family show that Ebola was clearly noted in the patient's record after his second appearance at the hospital. Yet it remains unclear if workers who cared for him donned protective gear properly.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC's "This week" on Sunday that those caring for an Ebola patient in Dallas were left vulnerable because some of their skin was showing.
Experts from the humanitarian medical aid group Doctors Without Borders have criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's safety protocols for handling Ebola as lax. The CDC has since revised its guidelines and is working on further revisions.
Berdan's letter said the hospital has already revised its procedures by instructing frontline healthcare workers in proper donning and doffing techniques for protective gear. It has instituted a "buddy system" for its care teams and improved the electronic medical record system, Berdan said.
The health system had previously said that a flaw in its EHR system led to Duncan's initial misdiagnosis, but later retracted that statement.
Like past statements by the company, Berdan took another jab at the media, blaming news outlets for promulgating incorrect information about the hospital and its staff.
"Based on what we already know, I can tell you that many of the theories and allegations being presented in the media do not align with facts stated in the medical record and the accounts of caregivers who were present on the scene," Berdan wrote.
President Barack Obama met with his public health and national security teams Saturday evening to go over the government's response to the Ebola crisis, including the tracing of individuals who the CDC believes could potentially have been exposed to Ebola. Ron Klain, the administration's newly appointed Ebola response coordinator, was not listed by the White House as a participant in the meeting.
