Nebraska Medicine/UNMC, Nebraska DHHS Selected As Special Pathogen Treatment Center

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has selected nine health departments and associated partner hospitals to create a new network to respond to outbreaks of severe, highly infections diseases. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human services in partnership with Nebraska Medicine – Nebraska Medical Center is one of the nine facilities on the list.

Nearly $30 million of federal funding will be coming from HHS' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to enhance the regional treatment centers' capabilities to care for patients with Ebola or other similar illnesses. "This approach recognizes that being ready to treat severe, highly infectious diseases, including Ebola, is vital to our nation's health security," said Dr. Nicole Lurie, HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response. "This added regional capability increases our domestic preparedness posture to protect the public's health."

"We are very grateful for the trust being shown to us by HHS in naming Nebraska Medicine as one of these regional centers," said Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center and chairman of the Nebraska Medicine Advisory Board. "Our track record in caring for Ebola patients is certainly a contributor toward achieving this goal, but this is also a credit to the countless individuals at Nebraska Medicine and UNMC who have continued to work tirelessly to ensure we continue to be at the forefront of the nation's and world's fight against the deadliest of diseases."

Dr. Gold also said Nebraska Medicine and UNMC's continuing effort in training hundreds of other medical experts from around the country and around the world in the best practices for handling patients with highly infectious diseases played a role in the selection.

"Our agency has partnered with Nebraska Medicine - Nebraska Medical Center for more than 10 years. They have the facility and the expertise to provide specialized care to people with highly infectious diseases like Ebola," said Jenifer Roberts-Johnson, deputy director of the Division of Public Health for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. "We're pleased to continue our work together to further increase our level of preparedness and help protect the health of our citizens."

Each awardee will receive approximately $3.25 million over the full five-year project period. This funding is part of $339.5 million in emergency funding Congress appropriated to enhance state and local public health and health care system preparedness following cases of Ebola in the United States stemming from the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

The facilities announced today will be continuously ready and available to care for a patient with Ebola or another severe, highly infectious disease, whether the patient is medically evacuated from overseas or is diagnosed within the United States.

The nine awardees and their partner hospitals are:

Massachusetts Department of Public Health in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in partnership with New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation/HHC Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City
Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in partnership with Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland
Georgia Department of Public Health in partnership with Emory University Hospital and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta/Egleston Children's Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia
Minnesota Department of Health in partnership with the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Texas Department of State Health Services in partnership with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in Galveston, Texas
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services in partnership with Nebraska Medicine - Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in partnership with Denver Health Medical Center in Denver, Colorado
Washington State Department of Health in partnership with Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital in Spokane, Washington

The regional facilities are part of a national network of 55 Ebola treatment centers, but will have enhanced capabilities to treat a patient with confirmed Ebola or other highly infectious disease. Even with the establishment of the nine regional facilities, the other 46 Ebola treatment centers and their associated health departments will remain ready and may be called upon to handle one or more simultaneous clusters of patients.

The facilities selected to serve as regional Ebola treatment centers will be required to:

Accept patients within eight hours of being notified,
Have the capacity to treat at least two Ebola patients at the same time,
Have respiratory infectious disease isolation capacity or negative pressure rooms for at least 10 patients,
Conduct quarterly trainings and exercises,
Receive an annual readiness assessment from the soon-to-be-established National Ebola Training and Education Center, composed of experts from health care facilities that have safely and successfully cared for patients with Ebola in the U.S., and funded by ASPR and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to ensure clinical staff is adequately prepared and trained to safely treat patients with Ebola and other infectious diseases,
Be able to treat pediatric patients with Ebola or other infectious diseases or partner with a neighboring facility to do so, and,
Be able to safely handle Ebola-contaminated or other highly contaminated infectious waste.

Proposals from these facilities were reviewed by a panel of experts from professional associations, academia, and federal agencies and were selected based upon extensive criteria published in the funding opportunity announcement released in February.

To be eligible for consideration as an Ebola and other special pathogen treatment center, facilities also had to be assessed by a Rapid Ebola Preparedness team led by the CDC prior to Feb. 20, 2015.

The Department is working with state health officials and hospital executives in HHS Region IX, which includes Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and the Pacific island territories and freely associated states, to identify a partner hospital awardee.

HHS is the principal federal department for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. ASPR leads HHS in preparing the nation to respond to and recover from adverse health effects of emergencies, supporting communities' ability to withstand adversity, strengthening health and response systems, and enhancing national health security.

To learn more about the department's efforts to protect against Ebola, visit www.cdc.gov/Ebola and for more information on the Department's emergency preparedness and response efforts for all hazards see www.phe.gov.