75 Hospitals and Counting: Federal Program Expands the Nation’s Frontline Defense Against Deadly Pathogens
The United States has long been vulnerable to a quiet but serious structural problem in its infectious disease response: the ability to safely treat patients infected with the world’s most dangerous pathogens has been concentrated in relatively few, highly specialized facilities. When an outbreak occurs, that concentration creates bottlenecks, strains regional resources, and leaves patients in many parts of the country far from the care they need.
A federal initiative is working to change that. On Sep. 1, 2026, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC) announced a second round of funding under the National Special Pathogen System (NSPS) Level 2 Special Pathogen Treatment and Network Development Award, known as the STAND Award. The announcement adds 21 healthcare facilities across 16 states and territories to a growing national network, bringing the total number of hospitals receiving STAND funding to 75.
Each selected facility receives up to $500,000 to upgrade infrastructure, train clinical staff, and acquire the specialized equipment required to meet federal Level 2 treatment standards. These are not trauma centers or general intensive care units. Level 2 Special Pathogen Treatment Centers are built and staffed to provide comprehensive inpatient care for patients infected with high-consequence infectious diseases, a category that includes pathogens such as Ebola virus and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus. They must do so while maintaining the infection prevention and control standards necessary to protect healthcare workers and prevent secondary transmission within the facility.
The 21 new awardees join 54 hospitals selected in the first round, announced in January 2026. That first cohort spanned 28 states and U.S. territories and included major academic medical centers alongside children’s hospitals, safety-net institutions, and facilities in geographically remote areas such as Guam and Alaska.
A tiered system designed to distribute both capability and burden
The NSPS operates on a tiered framework. At the top are a small number of Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers, the Level 1 facilities with the highest level of specialized infrastructure and expertise. Level 2 centers, the focus of the STAND Award, are designed to carry a meaningful share of patient care during an outbreak, reducing the pressure on Level 1 facilities and making specialized treatment accessible in more regions.
“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.”
Laura Evans, Executive Director of the NSPS and Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington, emphasized the systemic significance of reaching 75 funded facilities. “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.”
Each awardee is expected to coordinate actively with NETEC, their regional Level 1 center, local public health agencies, and emergency medical services. One of the lessons of the 2014 to 2016 Ebola response was that technical capability at individual hospitals matters far less when regional coordination and communication systems are weak.
NETEC was itself established in 2015 in the aftermath of that Ebola response, when the United States treated its first patients on domestic soil and exposed significant gaps in hospital readiness. The center is led by a consortium of Emory University, the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine, and NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, and serves as the Congressionally designated coordinating body for the NSPS. Awardees in the STAND Award program receive NETEC technical assistance, training support, and evaluation tools designed to help facilities translate funding into sustained operational readiness.
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This content was researched and sourced by Global Biodefense editors and reported with Claude AI assistance for drafting and editing.