'Really good news': Federal defense bill could move UNMC NExT project forward Multi-billion dollar expansion would bring federal disaster response facility to the campus Share Updated: 10:29 PM CST Jan 17, 2021 Multi-billion dollar expansion would bring federal disaster response facility to the campus Share Updated: 10:29 PM CST Jan 17, 2021 Hide Transcript Show Transcript FORWARD. ALEXANDRA: IMAGINE THIS CORNER OF THE UNMC CAMPUS TRANSFORMED, TWO AND A HALF MILLION SQUARE FEET OF NEW CONSTRUCTION RISING ABOVE FARNAM AND SADDLE CREEK. >> IT IS A TRANSFORMATION FOR OUR REGION, FOR OUR STATE. ALEXANDRA: THE NEXT PROJECT IS MEANT TO BE PART OF NETWORK OF FACILITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY EQUIPPED FOR LARGE SCALE DISASTER RESPONSE. UNMC CHANCELLOR DR. JEFFREY GOLD SAYS THAT’S EVERYTHING FROM HURRICANES AND TORNADOES TO CHEMICAL SPILLS, NUCLEAR ACCIDENTS AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES. >> SOMEWHERE BETWEEN FIVE AND 15 DEDICATED CENTERS THAT COULD EXPAND AND CONTRACT TO HANDLE AS MANY AS 1000, 1500 PATIENTS. ALEXANDRA: IT’S A PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN UNMC AND NEBRASKA MEDICINE, ALONG WITH LOCAL STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. GOLD SAYS THE NEW NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT SETS A MARCH 31 DEADLINE FOR SITE SELECTION. ELIGILITY REQUIRES BEING NEAR AN AIR FORCE BASE LIKE OFFUTT. >> FROM BOTH THE PERSPECTIVE OF ACCELERATING, AND THE PERSPECTIVE OF NARROWING THE ELIGIBILITY, WE INTERPRET THIS AS VERY GOOD NEWS. ALEXANDRA: GOLD SAYS UNMC HAS BEEN WORKING WITH MULTIPLE FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS FOR YEARS, EVEN BEFORE THE EBOLA OUTBREAK OF 2014. HE ADDS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ONLY UNDERSCORES THE NEED FOR THIS TYPE OF FACILITY. >> I DARESAY, THAT IF WE HAD THIS SYSTEM IN PLACE WE WOULD BE IN A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE TODAY THAN WE ARE WITH THE TRAGEDY WE HAVE SEEN. ALEXANDRA: HE BELIEVES A NETWORK OF DISASTER RESPONSE FACILITIES WOULD HAVE READIED US FOR EVERYTHING FROM PATIENT CARE TO VACCINE DEVELOPMENT. GOLD ALSO POINTS TO THE NUMBERS, -- >> HAD THIS IS, ALL OF THE SUPPLY CHAINS, AT AN ABSOLUTE MINIMUM, WE WOULD HAVE BOUGHT OVER TWO MONTHS OF PREPARATION. ALEXANDRA: GOLD ALSO POINTS TO THE NUMBERS, SAYING 63 DAYS AFTER THE FIRST RECORDED COVID-19 CASE IN THE U.S., THERE WERE 10,000 HOSPITALIZATIONS ACROSS 1300 FACILITIES. AND HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATIONS HAD LOST MORE THAN $55 BILLION. >> YOU HAVE GOT TO WONDER, IF ALL OF THESE 10,000 PATIENTS WERE IN 10 LOCATIONS, HOW MUCH OF ALL OF THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED. THAT IS WHAT THIS IS REALLY ALL ABOUT. ALEXANDRA: PREVENTED THROUGH DISASTER RESPONSE SPACES, A NATIONAL NEED, GOLD IS CONFIDENT UNMC IS WELL EQUIPPED TO M