The Global Center for Health Security at the University of Nebraska Medical Center opened the Training, Simulation & Quarantine Center last week.

The highly specialized addition to UNMC and Nebraska Medicine will focus mainly on “bioprearedness, infectious diseases, and high-consequence infections research, education and clinical care,” according to UNMC. The 20-bed quarantine center will be the only designated federal quarantine center in the country.

This addition builds upon UNMC’s history with high-risk quarantine during the Ebola epidemic, monitoring three patients who had been exposed to the virus since 2014.

In light of the coronavirus outbreak, the TSQC could play a role in the public health response if quarantines are needed.

Dr. Chris Kratochvil, the associate vice chancellor for clinical research at UNMC, says that the Global Center for Health Security came about because a central hub was needed to organize multiple initiatives on campus.

“It is critically important that we serve the needs of the state, the country and the world,” said Kratochvil. “By having the TSQC, we’ll be able to systematically help support the federal government and other agencies that need to quarantine individuals with high-risk exposures.”