Nebraska state Sen. John Arch leaned over and touched what appeared to be a lifeless manikin.
“He blinked,” he said, sounding surprised.
Sen. Arch, who represents Legislative District 14 in La Vista and Papillion, toured UNMC on Sept. 23, meeting with several UNMC leaders at the Wigton Heritage Center and toured the iEXCEL program in the Davis Global Center.
“There are a lot of issues that we deal with in the legislature that impact UNMC,” Sen. Arch said. “We’ve funded for these projects, and I was hopeful to see the results of that funding.”
Sen. Arch met with UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, and heard updates on the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN), the Saddle Creek development project and the University of Nebraska at Kearney-UNMC project to address the rural health care workforce shortage.
Sen. Arch said UNMC’s emphasis on addressing the needs of the rural community stood out to him.
“The whole vision of innovation, development of patents and the transferring of research to clinical work are things you see everywhere here, and I think that’s great,” he said.
During the iEXCEL tour, Sen. Arch experienced the state-of-the-art technology being used to train the state’s future physicians and health care professionals, including the interactive digital iWalls, the holographic theater and the five-sided laser cave.
He said he could see and appreciate UNMC’s vision.
“From the perspective of the legislature, it’s encouraging to see the development of the students, community and the state of Nebraska,” he said. “UNMC plays a big role in that.”