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White House will name Ron Klain as 'Ebola Czar'

White House will name Ron Klain as 'Ebola Czar'

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Klain will be responsible for coordinating Ebola interventions within the US

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The Obama administration will name Ron Klain as "Ebola Czar," reports CNN. Klain, a former White House official and general counsel of Revolution, an investment group, will be responsible for coordinating the government's response to Ebola within the US.

"It may be appropriate for me to appoint an additional person."

Until now, CDC director Tom Frieden had largely been responsible for overseeing Ebola interventions in the US. But a series of blunders at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas — the hospital where Thomas Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the US was being treated — prompted questions over Frieden's abilities to direct Ebola interventions while keeping up with his other responsibilities.

"It may be appropriate for me to appoint an additional person," Obama told reporters yesterday, "not because [top White House aides] haven't been doing an outstanding job, really working hard on this issue, but they are also responsible for a whole bunch of other stuff." The appointment, he said, would therefore be aimed at making sure that "we are crossing all the t's and dotting all the i's going forward."

Klain doesn't have a healthcare background. According to CNN, he served as chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden — he left his office in 2011 — and former Vice President Al Gore. As "Ebola Czar," Klain will report to Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco, as well as to National Security Advisor Susan Rice.