{"id":134944,"date":"2026-08-21T02:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T07:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=134944"},"modified":"2026-08-20T21:52:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T02:52:44","slug":"hhs-secretary-visits-praises-med-center-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/08\/21\/hhs-secretary-visits-praises-med-center-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"HHS Secretary visits, praises med center facility\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

On Thursday, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen hosted U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. during his visit to tour the National Quarantine Unit, which monitored Americans exposed to hantavirus earlier this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a legendary facility,\u201d Secretary Kennedy said during a news conference in the atrium of the Davis Global Center, which houses the nation\u2019s only federally funded quarantine unit. \u201cMost don\u2019t appreciate how far reaching the influence of this facility is around the world.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secretary Kennedy praised the UNMC and Nebraska Medicine teams that medically monitored 18 guests from the MV Hondius expedition. \u201cThis facility is absolutely critical to our national security,\u201d Secretary Kennedy said, calling it a \u201cmecca for biosecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the country has called, UNMC has delivered,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secretary Kennedy praised University of Nebraska President Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, and university leaders for their work in expanding nutrition education in medical school. Earlier this year, HHS piloted plans to have medical schools provide at least 40 hours of nutrition education as part of their medical school curricula. UNMC has included nutrition education in its curriculum for several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the news conference, Secretary Kennedy joined Gov. Pillen, Dr. Gold, UNMC Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, and others in a closed briefing and tour of the National Quarantine Unit. In addition, the group learned about the work of the C-STARS (Center for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills) Unit in Omaha and toured portions of the Davis Global Center. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The med center\u2019s National Quarantine Unit deemed \u201clegendary\u201d for its role in serving the nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":134945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"58302,27073,112600,37174,69245,78422","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-inside-unmc","department-health-security","department-unmc-today-todays-headlines","author_override-unmc-strategic-communications"],"yoast_head":"\nHHS Secretary visits, praises med center 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