New York Medical College will receive $750,000 in state funding this year for its Center of Excellence in Precision Responses to Bioterrorism and Disasters, an increase of $250,000 from the state government’s initial annual pledge.
New York Medical College said in an announcement July 10 that the school with match the funds. The center provides training and expertise to improve responses to disasters and acts of terrorism. It was launched last year and is the first of its kind in New York.
New York Medical College’s partners on the program include state and local government entities, as well as health care centers. The Center of Excellence provides training to health care providers and first responders to handle natural disasters, acts of terrorism and public health emergencies.
Related: New York Medical College launches training center for bioterrorism and disaster response
The college said it will use the additional funding to expand those training programs. A new state-of-the-art dedicated training facility on the school’s Valhalla campus will provide additional classroom learning space, as well as space dedicated to simulating disaster scenarios. The center already includes an “austere medicine” training facility that stimulates the conditions first responders face when responding to natural disasters or acts of terrorism.
The “Center of Excellence” part of the facility’s title is a state-given designation. There are 11 designated centers of excellence throughout the state, each focused on providing innovative training and workforce education. New York Medical College hosts the only such center in the Hudson Valley. The program is administered by Empire State Development, the state’s economic development agency.
State Sen. Terrence Murphy, who the school said helped secure the initial and increased funding for the center, said in a statement, “New Yorkers are very much aware that we are a high-profile target. … It is critical to our region”™s preparedness to have trained personnel who can respond to any life-threatening incident within our communities.”
