The UNMC College of Nursing will co-sponsor a March 30 visit by Kristine Gebbie, Dr.Ph., director of the Center for Health Policy at Columbia University School of Nursing in New York.
Dr. Gebbie’s visit at UNMC will include a presentation; visits with administrators, faculty and staff; as well as a tour of the Biocontainment Unit and Center for Bioterrorism Preparedness Education.
Dr. Gebbie is known for being the first White House National AIDS policy coordinator (1993-94) during the Clinton Administration. Before joining the White House, she was secretary of the Department of Health for the State of Washington, and became well-known as a member of the Presidential Committee on AIDS, formed by President Reagan. She was an outspoken opponent of the Reagan Administration policies on AIDS testing.
Dr. Gebbie’s presentation, which will focus on strategies of incorporating bioterrorism readiness competencies into health care curriculum, is scheduled for March 30 at 3 p.m. central time in the UNMC College of Nursing Room 1010 in Omaha. It will be broadcast live in Lincoln at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Teacher’s College (near 14th & Vine), Room 202; in Kearney, West Campus, 1917 W. 24th St., Room 144W; and in Scottsbluff at Panhandle Station, 4502 Ave I, Room 201.
Dr. Gebbie, the Elizabeth Standish Gill Associate Professor of Nursing, focuses on teaching and research in health policy and health services, with attention to population-based public health services and workforce preparedness. She recently completed defining core competencies in emergency preparedness for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and has just been awarded support to define competencies in bioterrorism readiness.
In 2000, Dr. Gebbie completed a nationwide enumeration of the public health workforce for the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA). With continued support from the CDC and new funding from HRSA, she is undertaking additional research and providing ongoing training in emergency preparedness and response.
Dr. Gebbie is well-known for her work in the development of competencies for emergency preparedness and bioterrorism readiness, said Margaret Kaiser, Ph.D., UNMC College of Nursing Department of Gerontological, Psychosocial, & Community Health Nursing. “Emergency preparedness and bioterrorism readiness competencies assure that all health care workers have the competencies needed for an effective public health emergency response,” she said.
Dr. Gebbie will be the keynote speaker on March 31 at the annual spring conference of the Public Health Association of Nebraska, Public Health Nursing Section, in York, Neb.
She has served in many roles, including public health administrator for the State of Oregon and the coordinator of ambulatory care for St. Louis University Hospitals.
Her academic work includes teaching at the University of Washington, the Oregon Health Sciences University, the University of California at Los Angeles, and St. Louis University. She served four years as a senior consultant on public health initiatives to the Office of Public Health and Science, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Gebbie has chaired the environment, safety, and health advisory committee of the U.S. Department of Energy. She has been elected as a fellow to the American Academy of Nursing and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., a master’s degree in nursing from the University of California at Los Angeles, and a doctor of public health in health policy from the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health.