CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – UVA Health University Medical Center has been awarded a $500,000 grant that will be used to increase its ability to respond to infectious disease outbreaks.

The grant, from the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center, will be used, among other things, to increase the center’s isolation room capacity. Funds will also go toward air-purifying respirators for the staff and technology to support the treatment and tracking of the diseases.

“Expanding our inventory of tools is a vital part of our ongoing readiness efforts to treat patients with high-consequence infectious diseases,” UVA Health’s director of emergency management Shane Anderson said in a statement.

University Medical Center is a Level 2 Special Pathogen Treatment Center and part of the National Special Pathogen System, which works to coordinate and support medical care during infectious disease outbreaks including Ebola and bird flu.

“Earning this grant reflects a decade of sustained commitment by the health system to preparations to care for patients with high-consequence infectious diseases on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Costi Sifri, MD, UVA Health’s director of hospital epidemiology, in a statement. “I am so appreciative of the team from across UVA Health who come together to care for patients with infectious diseases.”