UNMC and Nebraska Medicine leaders hosted executives from Beatrice Community Hospital & Health Center at the med center for a tour of the Omaha campus and some of its latest innovations.
Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, along with UNMC leadership in health workforce, graduate medical education and other areas, met with the guests during the visit on June 19. Nebraska Medicine leaders, including CEO Michael Ash, MD, and other executive staff, met over lunch with the guests.
Visiting were Rick Haraldson, CEO, Steve Paulmeyer, MD, chief medical officer, and Eric Trusty, senior executive for clinic services.
“It was wonderful to welcome our colleagues from Beatrice Community Hospital & Health Center to Omaha,” Dr. Davies said. “After having the opportunity to visit their team last year, we were pleased to share some of the innovations underway at UNMC and continue our conversations about how we can work together.
“Partnerships like this are essential to strengthening healthcare, education and service for communities across Nebraska. I want to thank Regent Rob Schafer for helping facilitate the visit.”
The guests toured the iEXCEL medical simulation program at the Davis Global Center, visited the National Cancer Institute-designated Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center for a tour with Director Joann Sweasy, PhD, and toured the Innovation Design Unit.
“Partnerships like this are part of what it means to be a leading academic medical center,” said Dr. Ash. “Sharing what we know and learning about challenges and successes at other hospitals makes us improve how we work together to benefit our patients.”
The Innovation Design Unit, located on the sixth floor of University Tower, is a combined clinical and research space where UNMC and Nebraska Medicine are designing and testing the hospital rooms of the future.
Chad Vokoun, MD, chief and professor in the UNMC Division of Hospital Medicine, and Amy Mead, director of psychiatric emergency and observation services with Nebraska Medicine, gave the guests an overview of the IDU, discussing such innovations as a virtual nursing assistant and automated transcription technology for care notes built into the rooms.
Haraldson said he was amazed at the med center’s technology and innovation – including surgical simulation technology. He said he appreciated having the exposure to the med center’s advances, so his team can think about incorporating it into critical access hospitals such as Beatrice Community Hospital & Health Center.
The ability to connect virtually on surgical procedures, for instance, allows that level of care to reach all corners of the state, Haraldson said. He called that the best part of the hospital’s partnership with UNMC.
“You are on the leading edge on so many things,” he said, “and we just appreciate the work that they’re doing for the state and for the patients.”