Inspired by Tour of the Lied Transplant Center, Broken Bow Students Raise Money

Members of Broken Bow Senior High School’s National Honor Society were

in Omaha earlier this month to present a $200 check to the University of

Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Health System for two “Recognition

Pathway Bricks” in the Healing Gardens at the UNMC/NHS Lied Transplant

Center. After the students completed a tour of the transplant center last

November, they were inspired to raise money for the Healing Gardens.

“We wanted to show our appreciation to the staff for being able to come

and tour the transplant center,” said Travis Slagle, a senior at Broken

Bow Senior High.

“The facilities really made an impression on us and we wanted to help

out in some way,” said Scott Adams, a senior at Broken Bow Senior High.

The National Honor Society and the Student Council of the school held

a raffle to raise the money for the bricks which will be placed with others

along the pathways of the Healing Gardens. The bricks cost $100 each and

have the name of the school or organization making the donation engraved

on them. Besides the bricks, donors also can purchase “Recognition Wall

Plaques” or “Recognition Benches.”

Slagle and Adams presented the check to Judy Graham, president of the

University Hospital Auxiliary, and Beth Reed, M.D., a UNMC physician who

is one of the four masterminds behind the transplant center and a 1973

graduate of Broken Bow Senior High.

“For high school students from a community 250 miles from Omaha to take

the initiative to raise this money is truly remarkable and very touching,”

Graham said. “The students kept saying how impressed they were with the

transplant center, but we are impressed by them.”

The Healing Gardens, which are adjacent to the Lied Transplant Center,

provide patients and their families a peaceful environment away from the

clinical environment of their treatment. Situated in a courtyard setting,

the gardens are based on the principle that interactions with plants and

landscaping produce psychological and emotional effects that enhance physical

healing.

The garden is designed into three different areas based on smell, sight,

sound, space and texture. The plants will be changed during the year to

reflect the different seasons. One of the gardens features a cascading

water fountain.

A remembrance wall, topped by a portion of the facade from Conkling

Hall on the UNMC campus, will serve as the focal point for the Healing

Gardens. Conkling, which served as home to hundreds of nursing students

for several decades, was torn down in 1995 to allow for construction of

the transplant center. The Healing Gardens will be officially dedicated

in a ceremony on July 16.

The 251,000-square-foot Lied Transplant Center contains 14 levels which

are divided into four components. It is the first facility to combine research,

education and cooperative care in a stand alone building for transplant

patients. With cooperative care, the patient’s care partner–a spouse,

relative or friend– provides many of the patient’s basic care needs.

The 44 cooperative care suites and 44 family guest suites have two beds,

a sitting room and full bath. Designed by patients and medical staff, the

suites offer the comforts and privacy of a hotel in a medical setting.

Other features of the building include a patient care center for transplant

patient treatments and clinics and a patient resource/education center

for families, patients and medical staff providing the latest transplantation

and cancer information as well as access to the Internet. The top four

floors are used for research space devoted primarily to transplantation

and cancer research.

UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state.

Through its commitment to research, education and patient care, UNMC has

established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for cancer research

and treatment and solid organ transplantation. More than $34 million in

research grants and contracts are awarded to UNMC scientists annually.

In addition, UNMC’s educational programs are responsible for training more

health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution.