Med center Ebola team named Midlanders of Year

The Omaha World-Herald has named “The Nebraska Ebola Team” the 2014 Midlanders of the Year.

In a front-page story published on Sunday, Dec. 28, the state’s largest newspaper lauded the “22 nurses, 10 lab workers, 6 respiratory therapists, 5 care techs and two dozen physicians” of the Nebraska Medical Center’s Biocontainment Unit for their “dedication and effort” as they “risked their own health to restore the health of others.”

Read the World-Herald stories here.

In a series of stories and sidebars that covered almost nine pages, the World-Herald spoke with the Biocontainment Unit medical director Phil Smith, M.D., associate medical director Angela Hewlett, M.D., nurses LuAnn Larson and Erica Elder, respiratory therapist Frank Freihaut, College of Public Health faculty members Shawn Gibbs, Ph.D., and John Lowe, Ph.D., and others on the team about the challenges they faced treating the three Ebola patients — Rick Sacra, M.D., Ashoka Mukpo, and Martin Salia, M.D. — who were sent to the Biocontainment Unit after contracting the disease.

“We have been justifiably proud of the work of our doctors, nurses and other health professionals in responding to this crisis,” said UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D. “The medical center’s Biocontainment Unit, and more specifically the consummate professionals who staff it, have made Nebraska an international leader in the fight against Ebola. This recognition by the Omaha World-Herald, including stories highlighting not only professional challenges, but also the anxieties these health professionals encountered from family, friends and community members, is a fitting tribute to their courageous efforts.”

James Linder, M.D., interim president of the University of Nebraska, said the honor spoke to UNMC’s foresight in creating the Biocontainment Unit a decade ago.

“The fact that Dr. Smith and his team were ready and trained for this crisis — so well-trained, in fact, that their treatment guidelines are now being studied by other health organizations across the United States — is a testament to the vision of the University of Nebraska and UNMC,” he said. “I know I speak for the entire university community in expressing my congratulations and pride in our colleagues at UNMC.”