Nebraska State Sen. Robert Hilkemann, D.P.M., who represents Omaha’s District 4, toured UNMC in October, observing presentations at the iEXCEL Visualization Hub and the Munroe-Meyer Institute.
The iEXCEL Visualization Hub is of special interest to Sen. Hilkemann, who introduced Legislative Bill 532 in 2015 to appropriate funding for construction of the Dr. Edwin Davis & Dorothy Balbach Davis Global Center for Advanced Interprofessional Learning at UNMC. The center, currently under construction, will be the future home to iEXCEL.
Sen. Hilkemann met with Bill Glass, director of visualization and technology for iEXCEL, and Suzanne Torroni, executive director of business development for iEXCEL, and sampled technology such as the iEXCEL iWall, the iEXCEL CADWall and the Hololens. He also experienced the new software that enables connection and collaboration between Omaha and Scottsbluff and is the first step in statewide connectivity.
The senator has now visited the campus three times to review progress on the project, and he said he remains impressed by “the endless opportunities” that the new center presents for improving medical education.
“One of the things that struck me the most in this presentation was the statistic that there are 400,000 deaths a year (nationally) from hospital error,” said Sen. Hilkemann, a podiatrist. “Innovations such as this are going to help reduce medical error, because people are going to be better trained.”
Sen. Hilkemann also visited the Munroe-Meyer Institute, where he met with Director Karoly Mirnics, M.D., Ph.D., and saw presentations by several departments, as well as stopping in briefly at a recreational therapy Halloween event.