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Nancy Montanez, left, views the da Vinci surgical system at UNMC. |
Montanez was joined by fellow HHS colleagues: Dennis Loose, chief deputy director; Tim Koehn, Eastern CEO, Lincoln; Robert Contreras, administrative assistant; Rachel Rezabek, administrative assistant; and Todd Reckling, administrator of protection and safety.
The expertise that the medical center shares with the HHS System is an invaluable resource, Montanez said during an earlier meeting on campus. “These two organizations have a long history of collaboration that ranges from tele-medicine and behavioral health to bioterrorism efforts.”
She said a partnership with the medical center involves recruiting nurses from the Philippines to help alleviate the state’s nursing shortage in public and private programs. The leadership of Nizar Mamdani, executive director of the Office of International Health Services at The Nebraska Medical Center, has “made it possible to turn our dream of recruiting into a reality,” Montanez said.
Through Mamdani’s efforts, HHS has hired 20 nurses from the Philippines. The nurses are expected to arrive in the next year or so, Montanez said. “He’s opened our eyes to new possibilities and a new way of doing business,” she said.
During her recent visit, UNMC leaders made presentations on telehealth, geriatric education and services to high-need, vulnerable populations. Montanez also viewed the da Vinci surgical system and toured the Durham Research Center, including the Protein Structure Core Facility.
Montanez, who was appointed HHS director in March, worked as the HHS Western Service Area CEO in Gering, where she led the development, implementation and monitoring of agency programs and policies. From 1999-2001, she was administrator for the South West Service Area, based in Lexington. Prior to that, Montanez worked in the Professional Partner Program at Region III Behavioral Health Services in Kearney. Montanez earned an undergraduate degree in social work from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 1994.