UNMC and Nebraska Medicine’s desire to become a national training center in highly infectious diseases was the topic of a legislative hearing on Thursday. The Unicameral is considering a resolution that urges the state’s Congressional delegation to work with federal agencies to establish the training center in Nebraska.
“Achieving the national center status will provide new opportunities for UNMC and Nebraska Medicine to collaborate and leverage federal and state resources to train the best-prepared health care professionals and scientists, and thus ultimately improve patient care and our citizens’ well-being,” said Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., who testified before the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee. “We have been recognized as global leaders in this area, and we are seeking the resources necessary to allow us to optimally serve our country.”
Legislative Resolution 41 also recognizes the work of team members who staff the campus Biocontainment Unit, which was built in 2005 as a collaboration between UNMC, Nebraska Medicine and the state of Nebraska. Kate Boulter, the lead nurse in the Biocontainment Unit, attended Thursday’s hearing.
Sen. Kathy Campbell of Lincoln originally sponsored the resolution, which is signed by 47 other senators. The committee took no action on the resolution on Thursday.
Dr. Gold noted that Nebraska had one of only three facilities in the nation that was ready to respond to the nation’s need to treat Americans stricken ill by Ebola, and that UNMC/Nebraska Medicine is recognized as the “gold standard” for the treatment of individuals with highly infectious diseases and as the location for training and education in highly infectious disease safety protocols.
Since the Ebola crisis, Dr. Gold noted, campus personnel have trained hospital staff from 34 hospitals in 27 states, in addition to personnel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal agencies.
If designated a national center, UNMC would create an independent accreditation program to ensure that hospitals maintain their proficiency skill levels so they are prepared for future infectious outbreaks, Dr. Gold said.