With the end of the 2014-2015 academic year, we all should pause to remember the enormous accomplishments of our faculty, students and staff over the last year.
This is the first full academic year since establishment of Nebraska Medicine. Without question, the creation of Nebraska Medicine has created a much stronger bond and joint sense of purpose among the academic and clinical interests that comprise our campus.
Nebraska Medicine is committed strategically and financially to helping support UNMC’s education and research programs, and UNMC in turn is now committed to assisting Nebraska Medicine in its goals of providing world-class clinical care.
One has to look no further than the partnership that occurred to meet the challenges of the Ebola crisis to see the evidence of these new relationships. I firmly believe these relationships contributed immensely to the rapid response that resulted in outstanding care of affected patients and an academic infrastructure that continues to teach the world.
In addition, while dealing with the challenges of the Ebola response, the clinical enterprise has never been busier, responding to the increase in patient volumes resulting from the providing of 24/7 adult and pediatric trauma care and the fallout of the Blue Cross Blue Shield contract dispute with CHI.
In June, Nebraska Medicine physicians performed more than 1,700 surgeries – an all-time high for a month. The hospital ended the fiscal year with record patient volumes. This was accomplished while at the same time seeing continued improvements in patient care and satisfaction benchmarks. We also just learned that U.S. News & World Report has once again ranked Nebraska Medicine as the No. 1 hospital in Nebraska (see story in this month’s InterCOM).
As you all should by now be aware, and as was discussed in last month’s InterCOM, this last year also has seen us embark on a major revision/redesign of our medical school curriculum. A major change such as this never comes easy. But, it is absolutely necessary that the college adapts to meet today’s changing health care environment and expectations for the skillsets of the next generation of physicians. Much work needs to be done, and it is a process that we anticipate will take place over the next couple years.
This is a huge undertaking and cannot be accomplished by only a small number of people. The next steps are about to begin. To keep you informed of this ongoing effort, we will try to run monthly progress reports in InterCOM. Two stories – detailing the learning objectives and the goals of the initiative – are included in this month’s issue.
Most importantly, Dr. Kelly Caverzagie, who is leading this effort, needs your help and is particularly looking for faculty and staff who would like to contribute to this effort – one that will shape the nature of the College of Medicine for several decades. Please take a look if you have not done so at the introductory video and consider getting involved.
In less than a month, the new school year will begin. Enjoy the rest of your summer, and thanks for all your hard work. As always, it is greatly appreciated! We are poised again for another outstanding year in 2015-2016. You all make me very proud to be dean of such a remarkable college.