NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue responded to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa by establishing a Special Pathogens Program. Bellevue is one of the original Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers and now is part of 13 Regional Special Pathogens Treatment Centers across the United States.
The Special Pathogens Team consists of dedicated clinicians and staff collaborating in the care of patients who are suspected of or have been confirmed to have a high-consequence infectious disease. These diseases include Ebola, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, highly pathogenic avian influenza, and pneumonic plague, and potentially have a high mortality rate among infected patients. The Special Pathogens Program Team cares for these patients in a specialized isolation unit. They also manage Category A waste while continuously assuring the safety of healthcare personnel.
This program is a partnership of Critical Care nursing and physicians, Pediatric nursing and physicians; Infection Prevention and Control, and Operations. This team collaborates widely with local, state, and federal partners.
As America’s oldest public hospital, Bellevue has over 289 years of clinical expertise built upon a history of special pathogens response experience from treating Yellow Fever and tuberculosis to Ebola, COVID-19, and mpox.
Bellevue’s role in caring for a patient during the Ebola response led to it being one of three institutions selected to form the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training & Education Center: a consortium to enhance national special pathogen preparedness.
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