Jury says 'Creighton killer,' Dr. Anthony Garcia, eligible for death penalty

Dr. Anthony Garcia is eligible for the death penalty for his crimes

Update 11/9/16:

A historic election that swept underdog Presidential candidate Donald Trump into office, also overwhelmingly reinstated the death penalty in the State of Nebraska yesterday, nullifying a previous repeal of the death penalty in 2015 by the state legislature.

Much like the Trexit rebuke that swept across the state and the nation, the Rust Belt carried the initiative by a 4 to 1 margin outside Lincoln and Omaha.

That means the Supreme Court will assemble a three-judge panel to determine if Dr. Anthony Garcia will receive the death penalty, expected some months down the line, for committing two double-murders in the "Creighton murders" from 2008 and 2013.

Original Article:

A Douglas County jury reconvened for only 45 minutes today to determine if there were aggravating factors in Dr. Anthony J. Garcia's murder case to make him eligible for the death penalty.

Jury finds Dr. Anthony Garcia guilty on four counts of first-degree murder

Dr. Anthony Garcia was found guilty on four counts of first-degree murder by
a jury today at 1:30 p.m. and first death penalty phase hearing will start Friday

Of late, we have not been reporting a lot of positive and uplifting stories from the medical field in the Omaha area as we had originally intended when we first created this blog back in 2013.

The sordid stories of intrigue, controversy, and scandals coming out of the medical profession in Omaha in recent months simply haven't fit that bill for what we intended to highlight as the best aspects of the medical profession, especially for the community in a quiet and squeaky-clean Mid-Western town, like Omaha, Nebraska, nestled in the heartland of America.

Frankly, some of these disturbing stories reported in recent months have simply been black eyes on the medical profession in the Omaha metro area, but for better or worse, the it is what it is, and we still have to report on it.

Dr. Travis Teetor named Young Physician of the Year by Nebraska Medical Association

Dr. Travis Teetor named NMA's Young Physician of the Year

Anesthesiologist, Dr. Travis Teetor, M.D., of Boys Town National Research Hospital, was named the 2016 Nebraska Medical Association's (NMA) Young Physician of the Year.

Dr. Teetor was nominated by the Metro Omaha Medical Society and awarded on September 16, for his contributions to the medical profession in the Nebraska area.

Dr. Teetor continues to be an active advocating force in the medical field, sharing his knowledge of medicine and advocating his views on public health with patients, peers, and community health organizations.

He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Education with degrees in both Exercise Science and Athletic Training from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, graduated medical school and completed his residency training at University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC.)

Dr. Teetor is board certified in both anesthesiology and pediatric anesthesiology.

Nebraska Medicine holds drill for an inevitable disaster scenario in Omaha: a mass shooting event

Actors posing as mass casualty victims at the Doubletree Hotel help out in a frightening drill for Nebraska Medicine

Nebraska Medicine held a drill to prepare for a growing, frightening, and very real phenomenon that's happening all across the nation, an act of terrorism, which even a quiet Mid-Western town, like Omaha, isn't immune to these days.

The drill was held to prepare Omaha for another worst
case scenario

Hundreds of doctors, nurses, and staff from Nebraska Medicine attended a seminar and practice drill at the Doubletree Hotel to simulate exactly such an event on Friday to prepare for such a worst-case scenario.

The possibility is very real these days, even in Omaha, because it's happened before even in a city as quiet and serene as Omaha, Nebraska.

In 2007, one such event occurred at the von Maur Mall where an active shooter left nine people dead in a deadly shooting spree.

"Doing a drill is the best way to prepare everyone for the real-life event," said trauma program coordinator Ashley Emmel. Those who attended went through scenarios that showed the real-life struggles that could one day be back on their doorsteps.

"There wasn't a lot of practicing," said Emmel. "This is what it would look like. Of course, the victims will be praying and screaming and asking you to help them."

The drill was organized by Emmel and is a reminder to everyone to prepare for a new wave of very disturbing mass casualty events that is not only a recent national phenomena, but one that has become more and more a global one that could happen anywhere in the world.

As Madonna Rehab Hospitals holds grand opening of its new Omaha campus, controversy still swirls around new UNMC PM&R chairman's troubled past in Texas

A little over two years after breaking ground on Sept. 4, 2014, construction on Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals new $93 million campus in Omaha is now officially completed, and the hospital is ready for business.

Madonna's grand opening celebration on Thursday kicked off with
only one glitch on Thursday: How will they address UNMC
founding PM&R chairman Dr. Samuel Bierner's (seen on
the left) scandalous past?

So hospital officials hosted a private grand opening event and ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday for the Omaha metro area's first and only hospital dedicated entirely to rehab care at its newest location across from the Village Pointe Shopping Center at 17500 Burke Street, located just south of 175th and Dodge.

Self-guided tours were provided to former patients, Madonna staff, and state and local dignitaries who attended the grand opening event on Thursday morning.

Just before the ground breaking on the new facilities in 2014, Madonna Rehabilitation Specialty Hospital opened a 32-bed unit on the fourth floor of Nebraska Medicine-Bellevue to address the acute inpatient rehab needs of hospitalized patients with complex medical conditions who were ready to be discharged from the hospital but not quite ready to take care of themselves at home.

Madonna plans on merging the 32-bed unit at Bellevue into its new campus after the Omaha campus officially opens.

Texas Medical Board investigation about Kowalske, Bierner, Gabriel, Hudak, and Knapton by Michel Schwalbe