The Region 2 RESPTC at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue leads special pathogen preparedness and response efforts in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Learn More Access Region 2 Resources
Communities must be prepared for special pathogen threats
The COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented global crisis, taking millions of lives worldwide, overrunning the world’s health care systems, and upending the economy. The pandemic exposed gaps and injustices in our health care and public health arenas that cannot be ignored. The nation needs a system that prevents information siloes, shares resources, and invests in enhanced clinical care capabilities.
The National Special Pathogen System of Care (NSPS), including the system’s Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (RESPTCs), was established to shape the future of special pathogen preparedness.
The solution: a coordinated national special pathogen system with hubs in every region.
The NSPS is a coordinated health care network that readies the nation for special pathogen threats. Through a portfolio of public-private partnerships, the NSPS brings together a national system of community-centered care. The Level 1 regional hubs of this NSPS network, RESPTCs, ensure every region in the United States has access to a facility with enhanced capability and capacity to care for patients infected by or suspected to be infected by special pathogens. In addition to providing quality special pathogen care, RESPTCs strengthen special pathogen preparedness across their respective regions by sharing training, curriculum, and other materials with local health care facilities and providers. RESPTCs bring a focus on special pathogen clinical care that is separate from and a supplement to the work of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR)’s other regional recipients, Regional Disaster Health Response System (RDHRS) sites, that focus on all-hazards preparedness.
In HHS Region 2, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue serves as the RESPTC for New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
NSPS Overview
National Special Pathogen System of Care (NSPS)
A coordinated health care network, funded by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, that readies the nation for special pathogen threats.
National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC)
A national coordinating body providing educational and support services to increase the capability of the U.S. public health and health care systems to effectively manage special pathogens.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue is one of three institutions leading NETEC.
Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (RESPTCs)
Hospitals that have enhanced capability to care for highly infectious diseases and serve as regional hubs to prepare health care facilities and providers in their region.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue serves as the RESPTC for New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
State and Local Recipients
Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) recipients, and their designated Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (SPTCs).
Hospital Associations received COVID-19 Emergency Supplemental funding, which will expire in FY 2024.
SPTCs are designated facilities that work with the RESPTC to increase access to special pathogen care within Region 2.
Find contacts in your region
To find an RESPTC outside of Region 2, please visit NETEC's regional contact page.
Find contacts