CONTACT:
Sarah Weller, APR, Children's Hospital & Medical Center (402) 639-6998 / sweller@ChildrensOmaha.org
Taylor Gage, Governor Pete Ricketts' Office (402) 471-1970 / taylor.gage@nebraska.gov
Khalilah LeGrand, DHHS Office of Communications (402) 853-1320 / khalilah.legrand@nebraska.gov
Leah Bucco-White, DHHS Office of Communications (402) 309-4157 / leah.bucco-white@nebraska.gov
LINCOLN, Neb. – Test Nebraska is pleased to partner with Children's Hospital & Medical Center, Nebraska's pediatric health care leader, to offer mobile COVID-19 testing for infants, children and adolescents.
The partnership aims to support schools and child care centers, in particular, should they see a rise in COVID-19 symptoms or cases. The collaboration will be activated on an as-needed basis, as requested by the State. Within 24 hours of notice, Children's will mobilize its team of pediatric experts—including pediatric-trained nurses and respiratory therapists—to travel to schools, daycare centers or other educational institutions to provide COVID-19 testing to students, teachers and staff. Children's team will travel up to 200 miles from Omaha to provide this service.
“Keeping children safe and healthy is our top priority—always and especially in the current pandemic," says Christopher Maloney, M.D., Ph.D., Children's executive vice president, chief clinical officer and physician-in-chief. “We are proud to partner with the State of Nebraska to provide our unique pediatric expertise and support Nebraska families and communities."
“We are very pleased that the partnership has created this opportunity for expanded testing because we want to use every resource possible to keep our children safe here in Nebraska," said Director of Public Health and Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Health and Human Services Dr. Gary Anthone.
Test Nebraska will provide the testing kits for the mobile, pediatric-focused partnership, with local public health departments supplying the necessary personal protective equipment. CHI Health's laboratory in Lincoln will continue to be the lab to process all tests conducted through the Test Nebraska initiative. The partnership runs through the end of October, with an option to extend the agreement into the future if needed.
Nebraskans are encouraged to call the Test Nebraska hotline for help completing an assessment and to get answers to general questions (402) 207-9377.
DHHS will continue to update Nebraskans through the DHHS website and on Facebook and Twitter as we have new information. The CDC's website is also a good resource for COVID-19 information - https://www.cdc.gov/covid19.
The DHHS statewide COVID-19 information line is staffed to help answer general questions and share the latest information and resources with Nebraskans to help keep them informed. The number is (402) 552-6645 or toll-free at (833) 998-2275; hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CDT, 7 days a week.