This is where we will keep you updated on the Johns Hopkins Hospital Biocontainment Unit news, events and activities.
The unit officially opened on May 20, 2015, and has activated on three occasions: once for a patient in isolation and twice to run laboratory tests on potential patients. Shortly after opening, the Johns Hopkins Hospital was awarded competitive funding from the federal office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response to be one of nine regional treatment and referral centers across the country for patients with highly infectious diseases. As the region III referral center, our biocontainment team is working closely with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) and the other states in our region to create a concept of operations to prepare for Ebola or other high consequence pathogens. The BCU also just had its first National Ebola Training and Education Center (NETEC) site visit in December.
The success of this tremendous preparedness effort would not be not be possible without our committed self-selectors from across the hospital who continue to maintain training certification to be ready to care for a highly infectious patient. We also want to thank the Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR), the Office of Emergency Management, the Emergency Department, Lifeline and the Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control Department (HEIC) for their collaboration and support.
Our next event:
Zika Virus Infection: Overview and Preparedness Planning
Guest Speaker: Jeanne S. Sheffield, MD, Director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Wednesday, March 9 at 7 a.m. on the Biocontainment Unit (Osler 8)
Light breakfast will be provided.
We look forward to providing future updates on all of the exciting things happening on the BCU.
-The BCU leadership team
- Lisa Maragakis, MD, MPH
- Brian Garibaldi, MD
- Neysa Ernst, RN
- Mallory Reimers, RN
- Hailey James, MHA
- Elaine Nowakowski, MSN, MBA, RN-BC
