Sandra Brandt has often heard her husband say that UNMC is a “world class” organization.
“And he is not kidding,” Brandt said during a tour of the Davis Global Center.
Brandt, along with five other members of the Nebraska Legislative League, met with university leaders and toured campus on March 29.
The Nebraska Legislative League is made up of spouses of Nebraska lawmakers. Brandt is the wife of Nebraska State Sen. Tom Brandt, who represents District 32, made up of Fillmore, Saline, Thayer and Jefferson Counties, as well as a portion of Lancaster County.
The group has toured campus before, although Brandt said the most recent trip took them through the Nebraska Medical Center.
Brandt said she was excited for other spouses to experience what UNMC has to offer. She planned on sharing what she learned from the daylong visit with educators and students back home.
“I’m very impressed,” she said. “I can’t believe how the facility has expanded and used resources from the state and private partnerships. They’ve done a phenomenal job of using those resources effectively.”
A tour of iEXCEL, headquartered in the Davis Global Center, started with views of classrooms and an immersive surgical suite before wrapping up with a tour of campus in the Holographic Theater.
“It’s a whole different way to learn,” one attendee said. Another quipped that the manikin used in the clinical simulation spaces were “not like the mannequins at Dillard’s.”
The group then toured the Global Center for Health Security on the ground level of the building. Discussion on that portion of the tour centered heavily on the center’s role during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Multiple visitors said the technology used in the center felt like something that only happens in movies. One guest said she was “astounded” at the changes made since her last visit.
The group also toured the Wigton Heritage Center and met with Ken Cowan, MD, PhD, for a tour of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
Earlier in the day, league members heard from campus leaders, including UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD; Nicole Carritt, interim assistant vice chancellor for health workforce education relations and director of rural health initiatives; and Marley Doyle, MD, director of the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska.