Death penalty hearing for Dr. Anthony Garcia in complete chaos and delayed until March because trial Judge decided to replace his lawyers during the sentencing phase

Dr. Anthony Garcia's death penalty sentencing hearing has been delayed again

On Thursday, a three-judge panel set to hold the death sentencing hearing for convicted quadruple-murderer, Dr. Anthony Garcia, at the end of this month has pushed back the two-day hearing to March 12 at the request of Dr. Garcia's new defense attorneys, who said they need more time to prepare.

Garcia's previous counsel, Robert Motta Sr. and Jr., were forced to withdrew from the case on August 31 due to a lack of funds, when the very judge presiding over the murder trial, Douglas County District Court Judge Gary Randall, threw the murder case in complete chaos by appointing the Nebraska Public Advocacy Commission, the state's public defenders, out of the blue to represent the defendant late in the death penalty phase of the trial, when the defendant was already represented by counsel of his own choosing.

Anthony Garcia's Chicago-based lawyers ask to be removed from the 'Creighton killer' case

Dr. Anthony Garcia's attorneys, Robert Motta Sr. (center) and Robert Motta Jr.
(right), have withdrawn from the sentencing phase of the murder trial

UPDATE 8/31/16:

As expected, the attorneys who defended the Creighton Killer will no longer represent him during the death penalty phase of the trial.

Douglas Co. District Court Judge Gary Randall grants a motion by Bob Motta Jr. and Bob Motta Sr. to withdraw as attorneys for Garcia due to a lack of funds.

The Nebraska Public Advocacy Commission will take over as Dr. Garcia's legal counsel during the death penalty phase of the trial which is set to begin November 30.

Creighton University Medical Center closes its doors for good

Creighton University Medical Center shuttered its doors for good on Friday morning

The old Creighton University Medical Center (CUMC) formerly known as St. Joseph Hospital, at 601 North 30th Street near the Creighton University campus officially shut its doors for good yesterday on Friday June 9, 2017, at 7 a.m.

Out with the old, in with the new: CHI Bergan Mercy Medical Center will take
over all of CUMC's responsibilities as a Level-1 Trauma Center and academic
medical center for the Creighton University School of Medicine

At the same time, two new medical centers run by CHI Health and the Creighton University School of Medicine will open, ensuring what is hoped to be a smooth transition and seemless continuity of care for CUMC patients.

A smaller, scaled-down CHI Health University Campus at 2412 Cuming Street will serve as a community health center and ER six blocks away from the old CUMC facilities, while a full service Level-1 Trauma center at Bergan Mercy Medical Center nine miles away will serve as the new academic medical center for Creighton University's School of Medicine.

The outdated facilities of the old CUMC buildings first opened its doors back in December 18, 1977, nearly forty years ago, as St. Joseph Hospital on 30th and Cuming Streets and was redubbed as Creighton University Medical Center in 2002 when it officially became the academic medical center for Creighton University's School of Medicine.

CBS News '48 Hours' features Dr. Anthony Garcia's quadruple murder case

Yesterday, CBS's "48 Hours: Resident Evil" featured the story of the two double murders in Omaha, Nebraska committed out of revenge by Dr. Anthony Garcia, which has infamously come to be known nationwide as the "Creighton killings."

Garcia was convicted last October of the two sets of double murders, involving ties back to his old medical residency program at Creighton University, and now awaits a hearing by a three-judge panel to determine if he will face the death penalty for his crimes.

Dr. Anthony Garcia ruled to be competent for death penalty sentencing, but court then grants defense a last minute postponement

Judge Gary Randall agreed again to delay Dr. Garcia's sentencing today

UPDATE: March 30, 2017

In a surprise, eleventh hour move today, Judge Gary Randall granted the defense a postponement of Dr. Anthony Garcia's death penalty hearing after Dr. Garcia's attorneys filed an emergency motion to discuss Anthony Garcia's mental competency.

Garcia's death penalty phase of his sentencing was to be heard by a three-judge panel today; however, Garcia's attorneys filed a last-minute emergency motion on Wednesday evening, arguing they needed more time to explore Dr. Garcia's history of mental problems as a mitigating factor against being sentenced for the death penalty.

Judge Randall called the latest move by Garcia's defense team "disturbing." However, he also said Garcia's rights to due process needed to be protected, so he begrudgingly appointed a statewide group of public defenders, the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy, to work with Garcia's defense team in the sentencing portion of his case. The Judge said reluctantly, "I'm going to go ahead and appoint the Commission of Public Advocacy."

Dr. Anthony Garcia's death penalty hearing likely delayed after Judge orders mental competency exam for 'Creighton Killer'

Convicted Creighton Killer, Dr. Anthony Garcia, sat in court catatonic, refusing to answer the Judge in court

Convicted murderer Dr. Anthony Garcia sat mute during a mandatory preliminary death penalty sentencing hearing this morning and remained non-responsive to any questions from the Judge or his legal team.

Judge Gary Randall ordered a mental evaluation for Dr.
Anthony Garcia before proceeding with the death penalty
phase of the Garcia murder trial

When Judge Gary Randall repeatedly asked Dr. Garcia questions during the hearing, Dr. Garcia simply remained silent throughout the entire hearing, rocking back and forth in his seat with his eyes gazing downward avoiding any eye contact with anyone in the courtroom.

“Dr. Garcia if you do not respond to me, you leave me with no choice but to follow the third thing we discussed at the hearing last week [sic] was to have you sent to the Lincoln Regional Center to determine whether or not you’re competent,” Judge Randall said in court.

After getting no response from the defendant, the Judge then promptly ordered Dr. Garcia for another mental evaluation at the Lincoln Regional Center to determine if he is competent to take part in the death penalty phase of his murder trial.

Garcia had already refused to attend a sentencing hearing in person last week in Douglas County.

His legal team asserts that Garcia's catatonic behavior today is similar to what they experienced with the convicted murderer for months when they tried to meet with him in confidence to discuss issues before the court. Apparently, Dr. Garcia had not even spoken at all to his attorneys during his 3 1/2-week quadruple murder trial.

Opening of new CUMC University Campus downgrades trauma services of the old Creighton University hospital after struggling to maintain its trauma rating for years

The second floor of the new community health center offers only outpatient medical services

Creighton University Medical Center (CUMC), formerly known as the old St. Joseph Hospital, will soon close its doors in August 2017, but a new, scaled-back, 86,000-square-foot, $36.5 million community health center at 24th and Cuming Streets, which opened this past week, will kind of take its place.

CUMC (formerly known as St. Joseph Hospital) is closing its doors in August,
but its replacement is curiously scaling back medical services from its previous
inpatient trauma designation

The newly dubbed CHI Health University Campus at 2412 Cuming Street opened its doors for the first time Monday morning to some confusion and questions from the public.

The old CUMC was a full service, inpatient trauma center that at times struggled to maintain its Level-1 Trauma certification from the state's Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS.)

Back on October 21, 2014, the DHHS denied the hospital an application for Level-1 Trauma designation, citing CUMC for safety deficiencies in meeting four areas of comprehensive patient care standards: 1) clinical capabilities in general surgery, 2) clinical qualifications in neurosurgery, 3) clinical capabilities in orthopedic surgery, and 4) having enough verified or equivalent registered nurses or trauma nurses staffed in the emergency department.

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. Amy McGaha named new chairwoman of Creighton's family medicine department

Dr. Amy McGaha of Creighton  University

On Friday, Creighton University School of Medicine's family medicine department promoted its residency program director, Dr. Amy McGaha, M.D., to the post of chairwoman of the department.

McGaha's appointment becomes effective October 1 and is subject to approval by the Creighton University Board of Regents.

She also serves on the regional board of CHI Health and the combined CUMC Bergan Medical Executive Committee.

Before coming to Creighton, McGaha previously served on the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and as assistant director of medical education for the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) in Leawood, Kansas, the professional certification board for family physicians.

Prior to those appointments, Dr. McGaha provided inpatient and outpatient care for Freeman Health Systems in Missouri.