HHS Launches National Ebola Training Center
"While this training starts with Ebola, it also will help the health care community deal with other serious infectious diseases in the future," said Dr. Nicole Lurie, the HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on July 1 launched a National Ebola Training and Education Center, with three hospitals receiving funding to lead the venture. Its goal is to ensure that U.S. health care providers and facilities are prepared to safely identify, isolate, transport, and treat patients with Ebola and other emerging infectious diseases.
HHS' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will provide $12 million during the next five years to Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.; the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine in Omaha; and Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City.
"The National Ebola Training and Education Center contributes to our nation's health security by developing and teaching evidence-based practices of experienced providers and health care institutions in caring for patients with Ebola and other serious infectious diseases. While this training starts with Ebola, it also will help the health care community deal with other serious infectious diseases in the future," said Dr. Nicole Lurie, the HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response.
Emory University and Nebraska Medical Center have been working with CDC since December to train more than 460 health care workers from 87 health care systems, including 37 designated Ebola treatment centers, on infection control and care for patients with Ebola, and the two hospitals are offering additional training opportunities this summer for up to 400 staff from Ebola assessment hospitals.
"The ongoing Ebola epidemic in West Africa is proof that a threat anywhere can be a threat everywhere; the United States must continue to prepare," CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said. "Hospitals are often the first place where a new disease threat is recognized. This new center will help our hospitals and health care workers prepare to handle new threats and safely care for patients."
To learn more about Ebola, visit www.cdc.gov/ebola.