UNMC and University of Nebraska leaders hosted U.S. Reps. Don Bacon and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD, on Jan. 29 and 30 for a discussion of innovation at the med center, UNMC’s biosecurity expertise and federal collaboration.
Rep. Bacon, who represents Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, retired as a brigadier general from the U.S. Air Force and serves on the House Armed Services Committee. Rep. Miller-Meeks, of Iowa’s First Congressional District, sits on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, is the Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee chair and retired as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army, where her service included time as a nurse and physician.
“It’s an honor to have the two members of the United States Congress here who represent the very best interests of our veterans,” said University of Nebraska President Jeffrey P. Gold, MD. “Anything that our university can do to support the health care of those that have protected our freedom over their careers is critically important, and to have members of the United States Congress to talk about how we can continue to build stronger partnerships in those areas is important.”
The discussions included an update on Project Health, collaboration opportunities with the VA and discussions of the reauthorization of the CHIP-IN Act that allows for public-private partnerships with the VA, as well as a tour of the new Innovation Design Unit.
Reps. Miller-Meeks and Bacon also received tours of the Davis Global Center, including its health care simulation capabilities and the federal partnership present in the Training, Simulation and Quarantine Center.
The congressional representatives also toured the Negatively Pressurized Conex, an air transport system for carrying patients with high consequence infectious diseases. The unit was developed in partnership with C-STARS-Omaha, the Air Force Center for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills located at UNMC.
Rep. Bacon said he’s proud that UNMC and Nebraska have the center of excellence for the world in teaching proper air transport for people with infectious diseases.
“We have so many partnerships between the Department of Defense and UNMC and the University of Nebraska, whether it’s cyber-terrorism, contagious diseases, how to transport patients with contagious disease,” he said. “It’s just a beautiful partnership.”
Rep. Miller-Meeks said UNMC’s Global Center for Health Security and Davis Global Center are amazing assets for the United States and the nation’s military in preparing for the future emergence of highly contagious pathogens and diseases.
She said that both Omaha and Nebraska have been “very conscientious in allowing this type of training and simulation and mobilization stations here for proper medical intervention to occur, despite what some people would say would be very frightening circumstances.”
She added: “We owe a debt of gratitude to Omaha and Nebraska for being calm, cool and collected for something that has repercussions far beyond the University of Nebraska Medical Center and far beyond Omaha and Nebraska.”