We were honored to have Dr. Jeffrey Gold, Chancellor of UNO and UNMC, as our guest speaker at Wednesday’s meeting. Dr. Gold has had a long and storied career in health care and is now in charge of leading 15,00+ students, 9,000 employees, and a $1.5 billion budget for both UNO and UNMC.
Everyone had one question on their minds: COVID-19. Dr. Gold did not disappoint, taking us through all the different ways that UNMC has been at the forefront of dealing with the pandemic, from housing the Global Center for Health Security, the National Center for Quarantine, and the Air Force Research Lab, along with various trainings and manuals offered to various organizations across the country.
As the pandemic rolls on, we’ve seen a number of trends in the United States. Thus far, over 2.5 million cases have been reported with 127,000 deaths. Some states were hit hard early and have seen a reduction in cases. Others are now just seeing their first spikes.
Right here in Nebraska, we’ve seen a steady rise in cases but our transmission rates and readiness rates are within an acceptable zone. Dr. Gold believes that we must stay vigilant to ensure that the pandemic does not get out of hand here.
Across the world, the United States has done better than some countries in its response but worse than others. There are a number of factors for why this might be. Dr. Gold made a point to note that UNMC’s role is to offer advice and not get into the politics.
Making a vaccine will be crucial to containment of this virus. Currently, there are 125 vaccines in production, 10 that are in Stage I clinical trials, 8 in Stage II, and 2 that are in Stage III. By Dr. Gold’s estimate, having a vaccine ready for mass consumption by next summer is a possibility.
After his presentation, Dr. Gold fielded questions from the club. One question of note was asked by Cella about how UNMC’s role in handling the pandemic has affected UNMC’s bottom line. Dr. Gold estimates that UNMC has earned about $3 billion in earned media, without even including the intangible benefits that come from being featured on the news.
Some questions revolved around why folk weren’t wearing masks. While Dr. Gold didn’t want to speculate on motivations, he did make it very clear that wearing a mask was something that everyone should be doing to help contain the spread of the virus.
Kidding aside, Dr. Gold wanted us to remember, WEAR A MASK!
~Adam Leong
Guest Journalist
