University of Nebraska Medical Center Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., will visit North Platte and Scottsbluff on June 15 to meet with leaders of area health facilities, UNMC faculty and staff, and local business and community members who are members of the UNMC Board of Counselors, a statewide group that advises Dr. Gold on health care issues.
Dr. Gold will be accompanied by Cory Shaw, chief operating officer, system network development, Nebraska Medicine, UNMC’s primary clinical partner; Greg Karst, Ph.D., executive associate dean for the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions; and Lynnette Leeseberg Stamler, Ph.D., associate dean for academic programs at the UNMC College of Nursing.
Dr. Gold said during the visits, he hopes to learn of the opportunities and concerns facing western Nebraskans and look for ways the medical center can help.
One of UNMC’s goals is recruiting and educating students from rural Nebraska in hopes they will practice in rural areas. The new Health Science Education Complex in Kearney opened last year and is advancing UNMC’s efforts toward meeting this goal.
UNMC’s student enrollment has continued to grow. In the 2015-16 school year, UNMC had a record enrollment for the 15th straight year with 3,790 students enrolled, an increase of 94 students, or 2.5 percent.
“The expansion of programs in our colleges of nursing and allied health professions are providing more opportunities for Nebraska students,” Dr. Gold said. “These students, who are receiving a world-class education, are graduates filling shortages across the state.”
Thanks to private donors and state support, five state-of-the-art facilities are either being planned or nearing completion and will support the medical center’s missions of education, research and patient care mission. Three are educational facilities.
They are:
- The $102 million Interprofessional Experiential Center for Enduring Learning, referred to as (iEXCEL℠), which includes advanced simulation clinical settings and virtual immersive reality technology, will transform health science education with competency-based learning and assessment. Though located in Omaha, an electronic learning media development studio will deliver learning content to remote locations. Funds are still being raised for the building with groundbreaking anticipated for 2017.
- The $35 million, 85,000-square-foot UNMC Center for Drug Discovery and Lozier Center for Pharmacy Sciences and Education. It will open this fall.
- The $41.5 million, 100,000-square-foot facility near 19th and S streets in Lincoln, which will be shared by the College of Nursing Lincoln Division and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln University Health Center. It will replace outdated space for each entity. Ground breaking plans are in the works.
Other projects soon to be completed are the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center (spring/summer 2017), and the Lauritzen Outpatient Center & Fritch Surgery Center (fall 2016).
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