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The U.S. Ebola Hospitals In Liberia Are Going Up ... Slowly

The construction of a 300-bed Ebola treatment unit is underway in front of the former Ministry of Defense building in Monrovia, Liberia's capital.
John Poole NPR
The construction of a 300-bed Ebola treatment unit is underway in front of the former Ministry of Defense building in Monrovia, Liberia's capital.

Workers cut framing for the facility.
John Poole NPR
Workers cut framing for the facility.

It's rainy season in Liberia, and that can mean construction delays.
John Poole NPR

It's rainy season in Liberia, and that can mean construction delays.

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This hangar at the Monrovia airport is being used by the U.S. military to store supplies for the 25-bed hospital for health care workers.
John Poole NPR
This hangar at the Monrovia airport is being used by the U.S. military to store supplies for the 25-bed hospital for health care workers.

A worker from a local construction company levels gravel at the site of the 25-bed Ebola treatment center.
John Poole NPR
A worker from a local construction company levels gravel at the site of the 25-bed Ebola treatment center.

Some 60 men stand at the edge of the construction site for the 25-bed unit, hoping for work. Currently, no jobs are available for them.
John Poole NPR
Some 60 men stand at the edge of the construction site for the 25-bed unit, hoping for work. Currently, no jobs are available for them.

This tent will shelter 100 of the 300 beds at the Ebola treatment unit for the general public.
John Poole NPR
This tent will shelter 100 of the 300 beds at the Ebola treatment unit for the general public.

Last month, the United States made two promises to Liberia.

On Sept. 8, Obama pledged that the U.S. would construct a 25-bed hospital outside Monrovia, the capital, to treat health care workers. They've been bearing the brunt of the outbreak: In Liberia alone, at least 188 health workers have been infected and 94 have died.

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Then on Sept. 16, Obama announced a massive response to the outbreak, involving thousands of U.S. troops on the ground to train health care workers, deliver relief supplies and build 17 Ebola treatment centers for the general public.

At the time of announcement, Obama stressed that time is of the essence. "It's spiraling out of control. It is getting worse. It's spreading faster and exponentially," he said at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "Today, thousands of people in West Africa are infected. That number could rapidly grow to tens of thousands."

Yet progress on the hospitals has been slow.

As NPR's Jason Beaubien reports from Liberia, it's been a month and locals are still spreading gravel on the construction site of the 25-bed hospital. Standing on the side are dozens of locals looking for work.

The 17 other treatment units that Obama promised are also under construction. Our photo gallery checks in on the progress for these projects.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.