With that cry from 3-year-old Emily Stephenson – echoed by her 5-yearold sister, Julia – the first signed beam was raised to the top of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
Emily Stephenson, who her mother said is being treated at Nebraska Medicine for a blood disorder, may have been the tiniest VIP in attendance, but she was as enthusiastic as any of the other cancer center supporters.
Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert was on hand to extend congratulations on the construction milestone, saying the tower cranes on the Omaha skyline point to “a future of growth.”
Calling the project “a commitment to save lives,” Mayor Stothert said the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center will provide important job opportunities before and after the building is completed, adding $500 million to the local economy.
A Kiewit representative helps Emily Stephenson, 3, and sister Julia, 5, signal for the beam-raising as their mom, Amy Stephenson, looks on with UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D.
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Ken Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, noted that it would only be 18 more months before the group gathers again for the center’s opening.
“Tremendous progress has been made, and every day we are closer to this state-of-the-art cancer center that will really transform Nebraska, the region and the country,” Dr. Cowan said.
Nebraska Medicine interim CEO Rosanna Morris said that when the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center opens, “it will have everything our cancer center patients need, all in one place. How do we know? Because we’ve involved physicians, researchers, staff members and – most importantly – cancer patients in every aspect of the design of the facilities.
“We know, and they know, that curing cancer is not just about eradicating cancer cells,” she said. “It’s about so much more. It’s about treating the whole person – mind, body and spirit.”
Web Extras
View a photo album of the beam raising.
See beam signings throughout Nebraska.
Read a fact sheet on the beams.
Watch campus leaders discuss the impact of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
Nebraska Medicine staff and UNMC faculty, staff and students, came out – along with donors, campus and community leaders and other supporters – to sign the beams and see them raised.