PRESS RELEASE: NETEC Announces Second Round of NSPS Level 2 STAND Award Recipients to Strengthen Special Pathogen Preparedness Nationwide

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

NETEC Announces Second Round of NSPS Level 2 STAND Award Recipients to Strengthen Special Pathogen Preparedness Nationwide 

21 additional U.S. health care facilities selected, bringing the total number of facilities awarded to 75 nationwide

The National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC) announced the second round of health care facilities selected to receive funding through the National Special Pathogen System (NSPS) Level 2 Special Pathogen Treatment and Network Development (STAND) Award, funded by the Health & Human Services Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR). 

The second round includes 21 health care facilities across 16 states/territories, expanding the network of Level 2 Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (SPTCs) and strengthening the nation’s ability to safely care for patients with high-consequence infectious diseases (HCIDs). 

“Building national readiness means making sure specialized care isn’t concentrated in only a handful of locations,” said John Knox, ASPR Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. “With 75 hospitals strengthening their ability to safely treat patients with high-consequence infectious diseases, the Trump Administration is building more capable state and local response systems, protecting healthcare workers, and giving communities greater access to the care they need when these threats emerge.” 

The 21 new awardees join 54 health care facilities selected in the first round of STAND Awards earlier this year, bringing the total number of facilities receiving STAND Awards to 75 nationwide. Together, these facilities represent a significant expansion of the NSPS and its capacity to provide specialized care for patients with HCIDs while protecting healthcare workers and communities. 

Each selected facility will receive up to $500,000 to support infrastructure enhancements, advanced workforce training, and specialized equipment required to meet NSPS Level 2 SPTC standards. The facilities will work collaboratively with NETEC, their Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (RESPTCs), public health leaders, emergency medical services, and other partners to strengthen preparedness, expand access to specialized care for HCID patients, and enhance regional surge capacity. 

“This second round of STAND Awards represents important progress toward a stronger, more coordinated National Special Pathogens System,” said Laura Evans, MD, MSc, Executive Director of the NSPS and Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington. “With a total of 75 facilities now supported through the program, we are expanding the nation’s capacity to provide specialized care for patients with high-consequence infectious diseases while strengthening the regional partnerships and workforce readiness essential to sustained preparedness.” 

Level 2 SPTCs play a critical role in the NSPS’s federally directed, tiered framework for special pathogen care. These facilities are equipped to provide comprehensive inpatient care throughout the full course of illness for patients with HCIDs, including diseases such as Ebola virus disease and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), while maintaining rigorous infection prevention and control standards. 

“Preparedness begins long before a patient with a high-consequence infectious disease arrives at the hospital,” said Aneesh K. Mehta, MD, FIDSA, FAST, NETEC Co-Principal Investigator at Emory University. “These investments help facilities turn preparedness plans into practice by strengthening the trained workforce, systems, and partnerships needed to safely care for patients.” 

“Recent outbreaks around the world are a reminder that infectious disease threats can emerge quickly and cross borders,” said John Lowe, PhD, NETEC Co-Principal Investigator at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. “As global travel and large-scale gatherings bring people together, strengthening specialized capabilities across the country helps ensure we are prepared for what comes next.”  

“Our healthcare system needs to be ready not only for the threats we know, but for those we cannot predict,” said Vikramjit Mukherjee, MD, NETEC Co-Principal Investigator at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. “Expanding the Level 2 network gives more communities access to specialized care while strengthening the resilience of the broader health care system.” 

In addition to funding, awardees will receive comprehensive technical assistance from NETEC and the Level 1 Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) network, including training, evaluation tools, and expert consultation to support their progress toward Level 2 readiness. 

Second-Round STAND Award Recipients Include: 

• Administración de Servicios Médicos de Puerto Rico (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 
• Advocate Sherman Hospital (Elgin, Illinois) 
• Children’s Nebraska (Omaha, Nebraska) 
• Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands) 
• HonorHealth John C. Lincoln Medical Center (Phoenix, Arizona) 
• Hospital Universitario Dr. Ramón Ruiz Arnau (HURRA) (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) 
• Kern Medical (Bakersfield, California) 
• LBJ Tropical Medical Center (Pago Pago, American Samoa) 
• MaineHealth Maine Medical Center Portland (Portland, Maine) 
• Providence St. Patrick Hospital (Missoula, Montana) 
• Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego (San Diego, California) 
• Samaritan Hospital (Troy, New York) 
• Sanford Fargo Medical Center (Fargo, North Dakota) 
• Sharp Coronado Hospital and Healthcare Center (Coronado, California) 
• St. Elizabeth Medical Center, Inc. (Edgewood, Kentucky) 
• St. Joseph’s University Medical Center (Paterson, New Jersey) 
• St. Peter’s Hospital (Albany, New York) 
• The Hospitals of Providence East Campus (El Paso, Texas)
• TidalHealth Peninsula Regional (Salisbury, Maryland) 
• Tucson Medical Center (Tucson, Arizona) 
• Wilmington Hospital ChristianaCare Health System (Wilmington, Delaware) 

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MEDIA CONTACT: Veronica Lavarro, Communications Director

Email: communications@netec.org / lavarrom@nychhc.org

About NETEC 

The National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC) is the nation’s leader in special pathogen preparedness and response. Established in 2015 following the treatment of Ebola patients in the U.S., and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), NETEC is led by a consortium of Emory University, the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine, and NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, in partnership with the Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center network. As the Congressionally designated Coordinating Body for the National Special Pathogens System—a nationwide, tiered system of care—NETEC strengthens national health security through training, consultative services and assessments, research, and the development of evidence-based best practices.

About ASPR

ASPR is the nation’s leading health security agency — driving preparedness before disaster strikes, securing domestic medical supply chains, advancing gold-standard science, and delivering a fast, accountable federal response when lives are on the line. We partner with states, local communities, tribes, territories, other federal agencies, and the private sector to strengthen readiness at home. We invest in American manufacturing to reduce foreign dependency, and steward taxpayer resources with transparency, discipline, and measurable outcomes. ASPR protects the American people and ensures that the United States can prepare for, respond to, and recover from any threat to national security, anytime, anywhere.