Director of DHHS touring Central and Western Nebraska

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - The Department of Health and Human Services Chief Medical Officer is touring Central and Western Nebraska this week, meeting many of the healthcare workers on the front line of the pandemic.

On Monday, Director of Public Health for DHHS Dr. Gary Anthone visited the Tri-Cities with stops at CHI Health St. Francis, the Central District Health Department and South Heartland District Health Department.

For the last year, Dr. Anthone and workers across the state have been doing much of their work together via zoom, and now with vaccinations in place, Dr. Anthone said he felt it was the right time to visit on a more personal level.

“Now that things have slowed down some it was an excellent time to come out and meet them in person. I wanted to not only thank them from the bottom of my heart, but from the state and the Department of Health and Human Services and the Governor’s office,” said Dr. Anthone.

Dr. Anthone continued to praise the workers saying Nebraska health departments and hospitals had the right kind of leadership and workers to help navigate the pandemic as smoothly as possible, “There’s no doubt about it. It was because of the health departments corporation and hard work and expertise that our local health departments had from the very beginning of this,” he said.

Dr. Anthone said he is eager to keep working closely with hospitals and health departments in the state moving forward, “With the help of the public health departments and the hospitals, if something like this happens again we’re better prepared in the future,” said Anthone.

Anthone took a tour and spoke with staff along each stop. He will continue moving west on his tour this week with stops in Kearney at CHI Health Good Samaritan, Two Rivers Public Health Department, and then with his final stop in North Platte, where he’ll partake in the NEBRASKAland Days this weekend.