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Obama calls Ebola doctor, commends him for service

Dr. Craig Spencer, who was the first Ebola patient in New York City, arrives to his apartment building after being discharged from Bellevue Hospital in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014. Spencer, a Doctors Without Borders physician who was declared free of Ebola said Tuesday he was living proof that early detection and isolation can stop the spread of the deadly virus, and called for a better focus at the center of the outbreak in West Africa. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Dr. Craig Spencer, who was the first Ebola patient in New York City, arrives to his apartment building after being discharged from Bellevue Hospital in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014. Spencer, a Doctors Without Borders physician who was declared free of Ebola said Tuesday he was living proof that early detection and isolation can stop the spread of the deadly virus, and called for a better focus at the center of the outbreak in West Africa. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

By Associated Press November 11, 2014 1 min read

BEIJING (AP) – President Barack Obama is commending a physician who recovered from Ebola for his selflessness in going to West Africa to fight the virus.

The White House says Obama called Dr. Craig Spencer from Beijing, where Obama is traveling this week. Spencer was declared free of Ebola Tuesday after being treated in a New York hospital. He contracted Ebola while working for Doctors Without Borders in Guinea.

Obama is thanking Spencer for serving his country and West Africans. He says his administration will keep supporting people like Spencer who want to serve others. Obama says the best way to stop Ebola in the U.S. is to fight it in West Africa.

The Obama administration has pushed back against states that have imposed strict limitations on health workers returning from West Africa.