UNMC organizing campus response for victims of Hurricane Katrina

Numerous UNMC employees have expressed an interest in aiding the victims of Hurricane Katrina. UNMC will have an organized response to the devastating effects of the hurricane, said John Russell, assistant vice chancellor for human resources at UNMC.

Gulf Coast connections UNMC Today is asking readers with ties to the Gulf Coast region to share their thoughts about Hurricane Katrina. Send your stories to today@unmc.edu. Please include your name, title and department and explain your connection to the impacted region. Edited responses will be posted in UNMC Today.

“We are hoping to provide several alternatives for employees to assist the many victims of Hurricane Katrina,” Russell said. “We are still trying to put things together and hope to have more information by the end of this week or the beginning of next week.”

Russell said that UNMC is organizing a campus response so that employees aren’t confused by separate efforts of individual departments or divisions.

The relief effort will be a very long process, Russell said, and it is probable that there will be opportunities at various times over the coming weeks or months to donate money, clothing and non-perishable food supplies. Other specifics about UNMC’s response will be made available in upcoming issues of UNMC Today.

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), of which UNMC is a member, has been in contact with officials at Tulane University and the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, said Executive Vice President Richard Knapp, M.D. The AAMC is keeping its members informed through direct communication and via its Web site, www.aamc.org. Updates about Tulane and the LSU Health Sciences Center are available at the universities’ Web sites: www.tulane.edu/
www.lsuhsc.edu.