Nebraska Medicine announces leadership changes Michael Ash Kelly Vaughn Kyle Skiermont Julie Lazure Tiffany Joekel Sue Nuss Nebraska Medicine is pleased to announce several changes to the organization’s senior leadership structure, effective immediately. “Extraordinary organizations never stand still,” says James Linder, MD, CEO. “Nebraska Medicine will continue to evolve to meet the needs of our patients, to create the best possible work environment for the thousands of extraordinary colleagues here, and to be ready for the future.” The changes include the following roles: Michael Ash, MD, will serve as president and chief operating officer, a promotion from his prior role of executive vice president – chief operating officer. In his 10 years with Nebraska Medicine, Dr. Ash has directed the health system to a position of national leadership in clinical quality and safety, and in information technology excellence. An internal medicine physician and pharmacist by training, Dr. Ash also holds numerous health care related patents. As the health system president, Dr. Ash will continue to lead expansions of clinical services across Nebraska and to optimize nursing and health system operations at the health system’s current facilities. Kelly Vaughn will serve as chief nursing officer, leading thousands of nurses in Nebraska Medicine hospitals, clinics, and support areas. Since beginning her career as a nursing assistant with Nebraska Medicine more than 26 years ago, Vaughn has focused her leadership career improving the work environment for nurses and implementing technology to improve patient care and nursing practice. She most recently served as vice president of operations, leading Bellevue Medical Center. As CNO, Vaughn now joins the Nebraska Medicine Board of Directors. Kyle Skiermont, PharmD, is being promoted to senior vice president of operations. This expanded role will allow Dr. Skiermont to continue leading Pharmacy and Cancer while also taking on leadership responsibilities for Ambulatory, Diagnostic and Procedural services. Julie Lazure has been named vice president – nurse executive. In this position, Lazure will assume administrative leadership of Bellevue Medical Center and other hospital-based nursing departments. Additionally, she will lead nursing practice and provide operational leadership to Nebraska Medical Center’s Innovation Design Unit. Tiffany Joekel has been promoted to vice president of government affairs. Joekel serves as a liaison to the organization’s public partners, including local, state, and federal legislators. Sue Nuss, PhD, is stepping out of the role of chief nursing officer and starting the new role of clinical workforce development officer for Nebraska Medicine and as an Assistant Vice Chancellor at UNMC. In these vital roles, Dr. Nuss will formulate solutions to the ongoing workforce shortage by building the pipeline between UNMC, Clarkson College and other regional nursing and allied health schools. Dr. Nuss has more than 40 years nursing experience, including 25 years in pediatric oncology and 15 years in nursing administration. Dr. Linder says the organizational changes do not add to the number of executive leaders for the health system and are “budget neutral,” meaning the promotions and new roles do not add new expenses for the health system.
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Where Nebraska's undrafted free agents are headed in the NFL
For the second time in five years, the Nebraska Cornhuskers did not have a player selected in the NFL draft. While several players and their potential draft stock were speculated about, no Huskers saw their names called during the 2024 edition of the annual event.
Nebraska had at least one player drafted every year from 1962-2018. That streak would be snapped in 2019 when no Huskers were selected.
Two former Cornhuskers have been selected with the first overall selection in NFL draft history. They are Sam Francis in 1937 and Irving Fryar in 1984. One player, Stan Hegener, in 1975, was selected with the last pick in the draft.
Several Nebraska football players have signed with NFL teams as undrafted agents. Find a breakdown of all the moves below.
Nouredin Nouili – New Orleans Saints
Phalen Sanford – Las Vegas Raiders
Omar Brown – Denver Broncos
Quinton Newsome – Denver Broncos
Marco Ortiz – Las Angeles Chargers
Anthony Grant – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Billy Kemp – New York Giants
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Northwestern softball takes away series versus Nebraska
Two-out production and strong pitching performances lifted Northwestern to its fifth conference sweep of the season with two wins over Nebraska.
After defeating the Cornhuskers (27-20, 10-7 Big Ten) in the opening two games of the weekend, the Wildcats (31-9, 17-2 Big Ten) trailed 5-0 in the fourth inning of the series’ final game, which was ultimately canceled due to inclement weather.
With the sweep, NU won its 13th consecutive conference series and completed its second straight season of winning all its regular-season road series.
In their two wins, the ’Cats scored all but two of their 14 runs with two outs. Freshman catcher Emma Raye led NU’s lineup with four RBIs.
After pitching 18.2 scoreless innings at Purdue last week and earning consecutive Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors, graduate student pitcher Ashley Miller started in the circle for Friday’s series opener and secured a 6-5 win.
Nebraska opened Friday’s scoring with a two-run home run. Two innings later, sophomore infielder Kansas Robinson responded with a solo shot, her 11th of the season. A Nebraska fielding error evened the score at two apiece.
In the top of the fifth, senior infielder Hannah Cady put the ’Cats on top with a sacrifice fly, and Raye added to the lead with an RBI single.
The Cornhuskers answered with two runs of their own to tie the game 4-4 in the following frame. With two runners on base, freshman pitcher Renae Cunningham relieved Miller and ended the inning with a fly out.
Cady provided seventh-inning heroics with another sacrifice fly to put NU ahead by one. A wild pitch brought sophomore outfielder Kelsey Nader home, giving the ’Cats a 6-4 lead. In the final inning, the Cornhuskers threatened NU’s impending win with a solo homerun, but Cunningham locked down the mound and secured the victory.
Graduate student pitcher Cami Henry powered the ’Cats to an 8-1 win Saturday, pitching her first complete game of the season and allowing just five hits and one run.
An offensive team effort bolstered Henry’s outing. Graduate student outfielder Angela Zedak put the ’Cats on the board with a 2-RBI single in the third inning. Freshman outfielder Isabel Cunnea padded NU’s lead in the sixth inning with an RBI single.
Freshman infielder Ainsley Muno followed suit, bringing in two runs of her own, to make the score 5-0.
Henry conceded her only run of the day on a sixth-inning Cornhusker solo shot. But, Raye dealt the final blow with a three-run homer to cement NU’s 8-1 win.
The ’Cats will look to defend their perfect home streak next weekend in their last regular season series versus Indiana.
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Related Stories:
— Softball: Fueled by family, Bridget Donahey makes mark at Northwestern
— Softball: Northwestern wins two of three games at Purdue, secures 12th straight conference series victory
— Softball: Northwestern defeats Illinois 4-1 at home
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Tornadoes rip through Oklahoma killing four, including a child – as devastating videos show twisters flattening homes, toppling trees and causing blackouts in Nebraska and Iowa with 27M people under alerts
Dozens of tornadoes have been leveling towns, closing highways and cutting off power throughout the Midwest since Friday, and it’s been revealed that at least four people have died from the severe weather front.
Twisters ripped through Holdenville, Oklahoma on Saturday night, with officials confirming this morning that there have been four fatalities, including one child.
Flood watches and warnings are in effect Sunday for Oklahoma, one of the hardest hit states, as well as Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas.
Hughes County Emergency Management confirmed the deaths in Holdenville, one of them a 4-month-old baby, on top of 14 homes being damaged or destroyed and 100 people suffering tornado-related injuries.
The search for trapped or missing individuals in the town started Saturday night after the storm left the area. The four-month-old child, who lived in a house that was reportedly destroyed, was among the people authorities were looking for.
The child was found and taken to a hospital but was later pronounced dead.
As authorities assess the damage to Holdenville and other towns that were struck by tornados, the death toll is feared to increase as the day goes on.
A man walks past a damaged building on Sunday after it was hit by a tornado on Saturday in Sulphur, Oklahoma
This photo captures a severe tornado in Lancaster, Nebraska, one of the first to form in the spree of twisters over the weekend
Tornado damage in Sulphur collapsed rubble on white pickup truck (pictured right)
A tornado touches down on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Lincoln, Nebraska
Sean Thomas Sledd salvages items from his room after it was hit by a tornado the night before in Sulphur, Oklahoma on April 28, 2024
This image taken from video provided by KOCO 5 shows buildings destroyed by a tornado in Sulphur, Oklahoma on Sunday, April 28, 2024
Further damage seen in Sulphur, Oklahoma, where an infant died in the natural disaster
In Sulphur (pictured) another unidentified person died during the tornado that hit Saturday night
An aerial view of the damage in Sulphur, the city Governor Kevin Stitt plans to visit Sunday
People walk the streets of Sulphur on Sunday to look at tornado damage
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt issued a statement Sunday morning: ‘My prayers are with those who lost loved ones as tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma last night.
‘Thank you to Oklahoma Emergency Management and those who have worked through the night to keep Oklahomans safe and have worked to clear debris and assess damage.’
Stitt has also declared a state of emergency in 12 counties as crews work to clear debris and assess damage from the severe storms that tore down power lines. Later in the day, he plans to tour the southern Oklahoma city of Sulphur, where many buildings are unrecognizable.
Stitt said about 30 people were injured in Sulphur at a news conference in the town, the Idaho Press reported.
‘You just can’t believe the destruction,’ Stitt said. ‘It seems like every business downtown has been destroyed.’
Sulphur is around 65 miles southwest of Holdenville, and devastating video of its complete annihilation went viral on social media.
The videos, captured by Brandon Clement, show Sulphur in complete ruin.
The first video was taken while it was still dark and shows the rubble Sulphur’s downtown has been reduced to.
Clement recorded the second video with a drone and panned over the entire town of Sulphur, showing destroyed buildings, downed powerlines and upturned cars.
A man is surrounded by tornado damage after severe storms moved through the night before in Sulphur
Charlie Schwake walks past his property in Sulphur
Damaged storefronts in Sulphur
A man walks past flipped and damaged cars in Sulphur
A bulldozer trying to clear away rubble in Sulphur
A drone view shows emergency personnel working at the site of damaged buildings in the aftermath of a tornado in Omaha, Nebraska
A house at Sycamore Farms in Waterloo, Nebraska, on Saturday, April 27, 2024
Workers clean up the debris at Sycamore Farms in Waterloo, Nebraska, on Saturday, April 27, 2024, after a tornado damaged the property the day before
Heavy storm clouds appear as a tornado moves through suburbs northwest of Omaha on Friday, April 26, 2024
Marietta, another town in Oklahoma, suffered damage to its hospital though no patients were injured, according to the Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management. The Chickasaw Nation is also supporting the storm response in Marietta, the state agency added.
As people in small towns across the Midwest pick up the pieces, the weather threat isn’t remotely over. Approximately 27 million Americans are still at risk of of severe weather into Sunday, including wind gusts, hail, flood risk, and potentially more tornadoes, NBC News reported.
Over 34,000 Oklahomans were without power as of Sunday morning, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks electric utility outages. In Texas, the northern section of which was hit with at least 10 twisters, nearly 67,000 customers are without power.
The numbers of households without power have steadily gone down throughout the afternoon. As of 4:15 pm Sunday, there are just under 22,000 Oklahomans without power and nearly 30,000 Texans who still don’t have electricity.
Based on forecasts from the National Weather Service, there are at least five cities at risk of experiencing tornados Sunday.
Springfield, Missouri; Little Rock, Arkansas; Houston, Texas; and Lake Charles, Louisiana, all have a two to four percent chance of tornados. Shreveport, Louisiana has an up to 9 percent chance of tornados.
The outskirts of Tulsa, Oklahoma and Dallas, Texas could also be affected.
A drone view shows people inspecting the site of damaged buildings in the aftermath of a tornado in Omaha, Nebraska
Damaged houses are seen after a tornado passed through the area near Omaha, Nebraska on Friday, April 26, 2024
Families sift through the destruction from a tornado near Omaha
Gopala Penmetsa walks past his house after it was leveled by a tornado near Omaha
Emergency crews respond after a tornado collapsed a Garner Industries facility in Lincoln, Nebraska, with 70 people inside. No one died but there were three non-life-threatening injuries
Damage from the tornado at Garner Industries is seen on Friday outside Waverly, Nebraska
The onslaught of tornados kicked off Friday afternoon near Lincoln, Nebraska, where an industrial building in Lancaster County was hit.
The Garner Industries facility collapsed with 70 people inside. Several were trapped, but everyone was evacuated, and the three injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.
One or perhaps two tornados that left damage consistent with a EF3 twister (135mph to 165mph winds) then began to move toward Omaha, said a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Omaha office.
The tornado hit Elkhorn, Nebraska, on the outskirts of Omaha, at about 4 pm on Friday where it wrecked at least six homes – all of them newly built – and damaged dozens more.
‘The whole neighborhood just to the north of us is pretty flattened,’ Kim Woods, whose house was mostly spared, said.
One of the first twisters hit Elkhorn, Nebraska, on the outskirts of Omaha, about 4pm on Friday where it wrecked at least six homes – all of them newly built – and damaged dozens more
People are pick through the rubble of a house that was leveled in Elkhorn, Nebraska. Residents began sifting through the rubble after a tornado plowed through suburban Omaha
Debris is spread all over a Minden, Iowa property as friends, family and coworkers help clean up the damage on Saturday, April 27, 2024, after a tornado the previous evening
Damage is seen to a neighborhood after a tornado moved through the area in Minden, Iowa, Saturday, April 27, 2024
Those capturing pictures of the swirling storms were able to get particularly close
Staci Roe, on the other hand, wasn’t as lucky. She said the irreparable damage to her two-year-old ‘forever home’ caused her ‘utter dread’ when she saw it for the first time.
‘There was no home to come to,’ Roe said.
Another tornado began elsewhere in Omaha about 5pm on Friday and flung planes at Eppley Airfield around like toys and ripped them to shreds.
The passenger terminal wasn’t hit by the tornado but people rushed to storm shelters until the twister passed.
A storm chaser filmed one of the tornadoes crossing highway near Omaha, churning up debris from both the road and adjacent farmland.
Another tornado began elsewhere in Omaha about 5pm and flung planes at Eppley Airfield around like toys and ripped them to shreds
Storm chasers also documented a tornado crossing a highway near Omaha, revealing the destructive power of the funnel-shaped storm
Ultra wide view of the damage done to Minden, Iowa by a tornado that struck Friday
Omaha Public Power District trucks line up to restore power at a property in Waterloo, Nebraska, on Saturday, April 27, 2024
Another view of a town near Omaha, Nebraska that was damaged by a tornado
A tornado caught on camera in Lancaster, Nebraska, which damaged an industrial facility with 70 people inside
The driver came across an overturned big rig that had been flipped by the powerful tornado which could still be seen churning away in the distance.
Photos on social media showed heavily damaged homes and shredded trees. Video showed homes with roofs stripped of roof tiles, in a rural area near Omaha.
Fewer than two dozen people were treated at hospitals in the Omaha-area, said Dr. Lindsay Huse, health director of the city’s Douglas County Health Department.
A third, very powerful tornado, developed about the same time on Friday and cut a swathe through hundreds of miles of both Nebraska and Iowa.
Minden, Iowa, was hit particularly hard with half the town’s buildings damaged, four people injured, and the whole community cut off.
‘About 40 homes, maybe 50, were destroyed, gas leaks, wires down, a lot of debris. So it’s a very dangerous area, except for the people that live here, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy Jeff Theulen said.
‘Obviously, they’re trying to take care of their houses and our thoughts and prayers are with them.’
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds spent Saturday touring the damage and arranging for assistance for the tornado-devastated communities. Formal damage assessments are still underway, but the two states plan to seek federal help.
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