Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts came to the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory this week with a message of thanks.
Faculty and staff in lab at UNMC had been hearing since diagnostic testing for COVID-19 began at the lab in Nebraska that the governor was appreciative of their extraordinary efforts.
On Tuesday, Gov. Ricketts and Gary Anthone, M.D., chief medical officer, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, visited the lab to make that gratitude official.
“The laboratory staff was honored to host the governor, Chancellor Gold, chief medical officer and other staff members on a tour of the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory,” said Pete Iwen, Ph.D., director of the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory and professor of pathology and microbiology. “Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the laboratory has been and continues to be the major testing site for disease diagnosis. A collaborative effort between the laboratory and the governor’s office has been ongoing which has allowed for the laboratory to maintain a testing capacity to be able to identify outbreaks of disease as they have occurred in the state.”