With the planning, fundraising and construction of the Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte Center finished, UNMC’s Siobhan Wescott, MD, is ready for the hands-on work to begin.
“We’re just getting started,” Dr. Wescott said. “We now have an intact building where services can be provided. From here on out, we hope to have a UNMC presence providing services, as Dr. Susan would have wanted.”

The Picotte Center, located on the Omaha Reservation in Walthill, Nebraska, recently opened the renovated building to the community as a tribute to “Dr. Susan” and her legacy as the first Native American doctor in the United States.
Through the UNMC Indigenous and Rural Health Program in the UNMC College of Public Health, UNMC has helped the Picotte Center organization and other partners put structure to a comprehensive project intended to promote health and wellness, education and youth development, cultural preservation and the arts, and community engagement and development.
Now as the Picotte Center’s opens, UNMC and the Munroe-Meyer Institute will join with a multidisciplinary team of providers to help carry out the center’s health and wellness initiatives.
“We are honored to partner with the Picotte Center and the Omaha Nation in support of their extraordinary work,” said H. Dele Davies, MD, interim chancellor at UNMC. “Dr. Susan’s legacy continues to guide and inspire us as we work alongside the community to serve their health care needs. I extend my sincere thanks to all who have contributed to this collaboration and look forward to building on our partnership in the years ahead.”
Thanks to grant funding from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, MMI will expand its Medically Handicapped Children’s Program to the center. MMI will provide specialty clinics for children and youth at the center, starting on a quarterly schedule this fall, said Amy Nordness, PhD, director of MMI Clinical Services.
Cindy Ellis, MD, a professor of developmental medicine who works with both MMI and UNMC Department of Pediatrics at Children’s Nebraska, will lead a team of providers. That team will include a psychologist/behavior analyst and a speech-language pathologist from the Munroe-Meyer Institute, a nurse practitioner from Carl T. Curtis Health Center, school psychology services from Omaha UMÓⁿHOⁿ NATION Public School, a physical therapist and occupational therapist from a local community, a case manager from DHHS and a parent resource coordinator from the Omaha Tribal Nation.
Dr. Nordness said UNMC and MMI’s involvement with the local tribal community will “ensure we are supporting all our children and families in Nebraska that are learning to navigate development with a disability to help them thrive.”
Dr. Nordness added: “Receiving services in the local community reduces the burden families face in relying on transporting to urban areas in Nebraska and supports greater long-term follow-up. An additional focus on recruiting and training providers in the community ensures long-term support for families for years to come.”
The project also highlights some of UNMC’s connections to the Omaha Nation.
Dr. Wescott holds a special connection to Dr. Picotte. As director of the UNMC Indigenous and Rural Health Program, she works to promote public health in American Indian communities, as Dr. Picotte did. Dr. Wescott also is helping carry on Dr. Picotte’s legacy as the Dr. Susan and Suzette La Flesche Professor of American Indian Health.

Dr. Wescott said Dr. Picotte was trailblazing: Returning to the Omaha reservation after earning her medical degree from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, riding out by horse in all conditions to visit patients and later building her own hospital – the very building that had fallen into disrepair before the renovation.
“We could use a hundred Dr. Susans in Nebraska right now,” Dr. Wescott said.
Through its program manager Lisa Spellman, the Indigenous and Rural Health Program helped start the discussion with Omaha Nation about how UNMC could support the Native community.
Spellman said it is important for UNMC to come alongside the Native community in collaboration and support the amazing work they’re already doing. This type of collaboration is a key part of UNMC’s community outreach mission.
In the future, Dr. Wescott said, the collaboration also opens the possibility for UNMC students to train through the outreach work in the community.
“There’s a lot that we can do in that space and the community,” Dr. Wescott said. “The decision makers behind the Dr. Susan center really have been very supportive of honoring her legacy of serving everyone in the area with what they need.”
Wonderful story of a lasting legacy, thanks to all that made this happen !
This is absolutely fantastic!