KEARNEY — Health science education and health care delivery for central and western Nebraska enters a new era today when doors to the Health Science Education Complex open officially.
Thursday’s timeline
- Ceremony: 11:15 a.m.
- Open House: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
- Where: Health Science Education Complex, UNK west campus, 2402 University Drive
- Public: This is a free public event and all are welcome.
A public ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house, beginning at 11:15 a.m., culminates nearly three years of planning and activity to bring the new $19 million Health Science Education Complex to reality on the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus. All are welcome. Following the 20-minute ceremony, tours and refreshments will be offered until 2:30 p.m.
The event will be livestreamed here.
The partnership between UNMC and the University of Nebraska at Kearney is itself groundbreaking, said UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., and UNK Chancellor Douglas Kristensen, J.D.
“Those who prepare for their careers within this magnificent Health Science Education Complex will become Nebraskans with enduring, professional jobs who move into our communities and invigorate our economy,” Dr. Gold said. “And they will be better prepared for these careers than at any time in our nation’s history.”
“The collaboration that has led to the development of Health Science is the biggest change to this campus since our days as Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney,” Kristensen said. “This education complex will become a national model for rural health care delivery and will bolster our reputation by demonstrating that we — UNK and UNMC — can deliver on big dreams and big projects.”
Classroom and lab spaces will be shared by College of Nursing and College of Allied Health Professions students. While the College of Nursing has a long history on the UNK campus, the expansion of complete programs of study to Kearney is a new venture for the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions.
To read the extensive coverage of the complex in the Kearney Hub, click here.
The programs will fulfill a need for expanded education opportunities for nurses and new opportunities for allied health professions. Those professions include physician assistant, physical therapist, clinical laboratory scientist, radiographer and diagnostic medical sonographer, in addition to new graduate nursing and expanded undergraduate nursing opportunities at UNMC.
In turn, Nebraskans will have greater access to health care because of increased access to training.
Visitors to the building during the grand opening event will have access to tour the high-technology collaborative classrooms, view suites where simulations and examinations take place, see the gross anatomy lab, the “energized lab” (a fully functional digital X-ray suite), physical therapy lab, and see the Anatomage, a digital virtual anatomy table much like a human body-sized iPad. The public also will have the first chance to view the classrooms and areas named to honor major donors for facility construction and programming.
The public can meet new UNMC faculty along with students who will be on hand to help guide tours. Many of the faculty and staff, vendors, businesses and others involved in the construction, including RDG Planning & Design and Hausmann Construction, will attend the opening.