Q: Who has the authority to make public health decisions like allowing Ebola patients to be admitted into our country? Who specifically gave the permission in the case of the two missionary doctors now being treated at Emory?
—Susan Venable, Lawrenceville
A: The decision to transport two Americans with Ebola to the U.S. was a collaboration between the U.S. State Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory University Hospital. When the charitable organization Samaritan's Purse contacted the State Department about bringing the two patients to the U.S., it then contacted the CDC and Emory, where CEO Robert Bachman gave the final approval.
“These were medical missionaries who put themselves on the line. American, medical missionaries. We just felt a moral obligation to do the right thing,” Bachman told WSB-TV. “There was not a nanosecond of hesitation. When the call came in, we just simply said ‘yes’ and ‘when.’ ”
Q: We loved listening to the variety on Good Time Oldies 98.9. I put it on recently and found that there is yet another country station in its place. Can you tell me what happened and if I can find it on another station here?
—Lyz DeMarco, Mableton
A: Good Time Oldies 98.9 – it was called True Oldies 98.9 until late June – switched to NASH Icon 98.9 to be a "companion to Kicks 101.5," as reported last week by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It's the fifth format in less than three years for the 98.9 signal, which is owned by Atlanta-based Cumulus. There are no other oldies stations in the Atlanta market.
Andy Johnston wrote this column; AJC staff writer Rodney Ho contributed. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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