Sentara Princess Anne Hospital activates isolation unit for potential Hantavirus

Ebola was a fast-spreading Highly Consequential Infectious Disease (HCID) in 2014, when Sentara invested several million dollars on short notice to build a specialized isolation unit at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Its purpose was to assess suspected Ebola patients and confirm the presence of disease through dedicated laboratory testing.

Today, the unit is rated a Level III assessment center for HCIDs by the Centers for Disease Control. It is authorized to hold patients up to 36 hours to confirm if they are infectious, then transfer them to Level II or Level I units in Richmond or Washington D.C. for longer-term treatment.

The unit at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital never housed a patient with suspected Ebola, but it is, and has been, ready around-the-clock to perform that assessment function, should a suspected case of Ebola, Hantavirus, or other HCID appear in Hampton Roads. 

As it turns out, Ebola is back on the African continent. The World Health Organization has declared the latest appearance in several countries a Global Health Emergency. Hantavirus is an emerging concern, but it is not the same as Ebola or COVID.

“Hantavirus is very difficult to transmit from one person to another,” said Amanda Freeman, emergency department manager at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital. “It takes prolonged exposure in close quarters with another person for them to be infected.”

Sentara Princess Anne Hospital's isolation unit leadership, left-to-right: Elizabeth Pettway, director of facilities; Sonia Cooper, market chief nursing officer; David Street, manager of facilities; Kim Tempesco, system director, emergency management.

The isolation unit is inside Sentara Princess Anne Hospital but separated from the rest of the hospital. It has an outside entrance, so patients don’t have to pass through the hospital or emergency department. There is a separate ventilation system that isolates air from the hospital’s air ducts. There are anterooms for clinical staff to put on and take off personal protective equipment (PPE) and take showers to decontaminate themselves. There is a dedicated laboratory to determine the presence of a HCID or discount it.

“We are ready to respond to a suspected HCID anytime,” Freeman added. “We practice our responses to these issues, so our teams are always ready to be part of the solution to keep our community safe.”

The unit is used day-to-day for emergency department space but can quickly convert to its intended isolation role.

Sentara clinical leaders and administrators, emergency planners, Virginia public health officials, and Sentara infectious disease leaders conducted a tabletop drill at Sentara Princess Anne on Wednesday, May 20 to run scenarios and discuss how the hospital, and the Sentara Health system, will respond if a suspected HCID patient appears. 

“This unit has never been dormant,” Freeman said. “We’re ready for anything.”

Amanda Freeman, emergency department manager at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital, talks to media during a tour of the hospital's isolation unit, Wednesday, May 20, 2026.