UNMC is one of the leading economic drivers in the state, bringing in millions of dollars each year through research and patient care services, while providing a variety of key programs to rural and underserved areas of the state.
That was the message delivered Saturday by UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., at the University of Nebraska Board of Regents meeting at the Holiday Inn Express in Valentine.
“We’re very proud of all we do for the state,” Dr. Maurer said. “Without a doubt, the Medical Center is an economic engine for Nebraska. But, even more importantly, the research we’re doing and the clinical programs we provide are making a difference in people’s lives.”
Mary Claire Mohrfeld, interim director of Keya Paha/Cherry County Developmental Services (KPCCDS) in Valentine, detailed how the Munroe-Meyer Institute at UNMC reaches out to her program by providing videoconferences for her staff at least three times per year. KPCCDS provides assistance to 17 people with developmental disabilities in Keya Paha and Cherry County. The videoconferences deal with a variety of topics relevant to the developmental disability field.
“We’re a perfect example of how UNMC has a 500-mile campus,” Mohrfeld said. “There’s no way an agency our size could afford to bring in the speakers that UNMC provides via the videoconferences. The videoconferences bring university-quality training right to our doorstep. It keeps our staff current on key issues in our field, and at the same time, it saves us money by not having to incur travel expenses.”
Dr. Maurer said UNMC’s economic impact can best be demonstrated by looking at its research expenditures as well as the clinical revenues generated by its world-class transplant programs for cancer patients and solid organ recipients.
Since 1998, UNMC has spent more than $355 million on its research activities, including new construction, Dr. Maurer said. Using a conservative 2.25 multiplier effect established by the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, this figure soars to $755 million.
UNMC’s external research funding is expected to reach $53 million at the end of fiscal 2002 and $68 million by the end of fiscal 2003. “These are dollars that would not exist in Nebraska without the research activity at UNMC,” Dr. Maurer said.
The transplant programs for UNMC and its clinical partner, Nebraska Health System, have brought in more than $397 million since 1990. Using the 2.25 multiplier effect, this figure climbs to nearly $900 million.
Some of the other ways that UNMC is contributing to the Nebraska economy include:
- Nine Nebraska companies have spun off from UNMC’s biotechnology research. These companies have brought in more than $381,000 in revenues. Over the past 11 years, UNMC researchers have patented more than 300 scientific disclosures.
- UNMC has educated more than half of all the physicians, pharmacists, dentists and nurses with bachelor’s degrees in the state. Through its distance education programs, UNMC has helped hundreds of students get their degrees at sites in greater Nebraska. The vast majority of these students have remained in rural communities, where the shortage of health-care professionals is most severe.
- A variety of rural health programs that have been recognized nationally as a model for the education and recruitment of health professionals. These programs include: student rotations in rural communities; medical residency programs in Grand Island, Kearney, North Platte and Scottsbluff; the Rural Health Education Network (RHEN); and the Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP), which allows students from Chadron State College and Wayne State College to gain early acceptance to UNMC’s colleges of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and nursing as well as the School of Allied Health Professions. A total of 374 Nebraskans have participated in RHOP since it began in 1992, and more than 70 percent of graduates from the program have returned to rural areas to practice.
- UNMC received a $2.08 million grant last year for the development of Area Health Education Centers (AHEC). The Central Nebraska AHEC was established in Grand Island last year, while a Northern Nebraska AHEC will be established in 2002-03. These centers will help communities establish their health-care priorities and implement programs to meet these needs.
- UNMC provided continuing education programs to more than 23,000 health-care professionals around the country, including more than 5,000 Nebraskans.
- Since 1990, UNMC has served as the headquarters for the Nebraska Center for Rural Health Research. The center conducts research and analysis related to improving health-care delivery in rural areas.