University Medical Associates (UMA) and its partners, The Nebraska Medical Center and UNMC, are planning to develop a comprehensive, full-service medical campus on the southeast corner of 180th and Dodge Streets, just west of the new Village Pointe shopping area.
The West Omaha medical campus will be a key component of a commercial business development being called West Village Pointe, which will contain retail, office, restaurant and residential uses in addition to the medical campus. The Lerner Company is developing the project, which is expected to receive final approval from the Omaha City Council on Tuesday.
As envisioned, the campus will be housed on 36 acres with the project being developed in phases, said Rod Markin, M.D., Ph.D., president of UMA. The initial phase of the development will be a clinical cancer center, he said, with subsequent phases including a surgery facility, additional medical office buildings, and ultimately inpatient hospital beds to establish a full continuum of medical care at the site. UMA is the physician group practice for UNMC, which includes more than 450 physicians and health professionals.
When the entire project is complete, Dr. Markin said the medical campus could include up to 400,000 square feet of space to support the academic, research and clinical missions of UNMC and The Nebraska Medical Center.
He said the cancer center would be a 30,000-square-foot outpatient facility with a complete range of diagnostic and therapeutic services for cancer patients. Services will include a complete radiation therapy center, a diagnostic imaging unit, an infusion center, medical offices and educational space.
In the July 12 issue of U.S. News & World Report, The Nebraska Medical Center ranks No. 36 among all U.S. hospitals for cancer care.
“The new medical campus will provide a convenient location for private practice and academic physicians to bring their nationally recognized level of quality care to west Omaha. The vision of the new west Omaha campus is to serve as an extension of our midtown Medical Center campus,” said Glenn Fosdick, president and CEO of The Nebraska Medical Center.
“This new campus presents a number of opportunities for private practice physicians in our community,” said Donald Darst, M.D., chief of the medical staff at The Nebraska Medical Center. “It represents a continuation of a strategy begun with the development of Clarkson West Medical Center at 144th and Center streets. While we’ve experienced great success at that location with its 24-hour emergency room, outpatient surgery and medical office building, the demand for health care services in the surrounding area is greater and more diverse than we’re able to accommodate at Clarkson West.”
Jim Canedy, M.D., president of Private Practice Associates and a surgeon at The Nebraska Medical Center, was excited with the potential of the new west Omaha site. He said, “The new location at 180th and Dodge will allow the hospital and its medical staff more flexibility to provide the growing west Omaha community with expanded services in a convenient location.”
“We have become an internationally recognized facility for cancer care,” Fosdick said. “We are not only drawing people regionally, but we also are drawing patients from throughout the United States and around the world.”
The operations of the new cancer center will be integrated with the existing midtown campus operations of The Nebraska Medical Center and the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center, said Dr. Markin. Aspects of integration will include facilities and operations management, a shared clinical information system, and clinical treatment and research protocols.
Dr. Markin said faculty of the UNMC College of Medicine and private practice physicians on The Nebraska Medical Center medical staff will provide all the medical care at the west Omaha facility.
“The most cutting edge cancer treatments are available right here in Nebraska at our medical center,” said UNMC College of Medicine Dean John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D. “We are the only National Cancer Institute designated cancer center from North Dakota down to Texas.”
In addition to providing a convenient location for clinical care, the new facility also will allow UNMC to expand its education and research components, said Harold M. Maurer, M.D., UNMC chancellor.
“This is something that we have needed for a long time,” Dr. Maurer said. “It is a perfect complement to our existing programs. It will provide new educational opportunities for our students and will make it easier for more patients to take part in the many clinical research protocols going on at UNMC.”
Dr. Gollan said the new facility will provide a perfect setting for UNMC’s resident physicians and students to receive educational training. UNMC is in the process of trying to establish a residency program in radiation oncology, Dr. Gollan said, and the new facility could become a catalyst in making this residency program a reality.
He said the west Omaha location also would be ideal for UNMC’s community education outreach efforts, such as the Mini-Medical School program, which is held twice a year and provides information at the lay person’s level on a variety of key health topics.
The west Omaha facility continues the ongoing growth of the Medical Center. In 2003, UNMC opened the Durham Research Center, a facility featuring the most state-of-the-art technology available. In September 2005, The Nebraska Medical Center will open its Center for Clinical Excellence, a facility that will consolidate the hospital’s core medical services and will include an emergency room, neonatal intensive care unit, 28 operating rooms and four radiology imaging suites.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have the Medical Center be part of West Village Pointe,” said Jay Lerner, president of The Lerner Company. “They have a world-class cancer program. There’s nobody better. It is an extraordinary addition to our development.”
Site preparation, infrastructure and roadwork have already begun, he said. Planning of the first phase of the project – the cancer center – has already begun with completion expected in 2006.