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H
HS has named nine health departments
and associated partner hospitals as re-
gional treatment centers for patients with
Ebola or other severe, highly infectious diseases.
These hospitals are part of the network of the 55
Ebola treatment centers across the country, but have
what HHS calls "enhanced capabilities." The nine
selected hospitals are required to do the following:
• Accept patients within eight hours of noti-
fication
• Be able to treat at least two Ebola patients
simultaneously
• Have respiratory infectious disease isolation
capacity or negative pressure rooms for at
least 10 patients
• Conduct trainings and exercises each quarter
• Be able to treat pediatric patients with Ebola
or another highly infectious disease or part-
ner with a nearby facility to do so
• Be able to handle waste from such patients
• Receive annual readiness assessment from
the National Ebola Training and Education
Center
The nine hospitals are as follows:
1. Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center
and Children's Hospital (Spokane, Wash.)
2. Denver Health Medical Center
3. University of Minnesota Medical Center
(Minneapolis)
4. Nebraska Medicine-Nebraska Medical
Center (Omaha)
5. University of Texas Medical Branch at
Galveston
6. Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston)
7. New York City Health and Hospitals Corp./
HHC Bellevue Hospital Center (New York City)
8. Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore)
9. Emory University Hospital and Children's
Healthcare of Atlanta/Egleston Children's
Hospital (Atlanta)
HHS awarded about $20 million to the hospitals
to enhance their capabilities, and will gift an ad-
ditional $9 million to them in the next four years
to sustain their capabilities.
HHS is also working with hospital executives and
health officials in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Ne-
vada and the Pacific island territories to choose a
regional Ebola treatment center in that region. n
9 Hospitals Named Regional Ebola, Other
Special Pathogen Treatment Centers
By Heather Punke
