Traveling along 42nd Street through the UNMC campus, it’s evident that site work has begun for the new Global Center for Advanced Interprofessional Learning, which will transform the way health professionals learn new skills and acquire new knowledge.
Economic driver
The Global Center for Advanced Interprofessional Learning will create up to 325 well-paying jobs and is estimated to generate as much as $137.7 million annually in economic impact for the city and state economies.
Construction of the project is funded by:
- The City of Omaha ($5.2 million in redevelopment bond proceeds and $5.5 million in capital improvement program funds),
- The State of Nebraska ($25 million toward design and construction of the iEXCEL Global Center as well as $5 million toward the operating costs)
- Other private and public sources.
The federal grant does not provide funding for building construction, but does provide for funding specific equipment and technology costs already planned for the Global Center project.
The center will house UNMC’s iEXCEL℠ (Interprofessional Experiential Center for Enduring Learning) program and expose students to interprofessional clinical simulation training exercises, surgical skills training and realistic environments through virtual and augmented reality, holographic and visualization techniques.
In short, iEXCEL℠ will transform health care education just as aviation simulation changed the flight industry.
On Friday, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved a budget increase for the Global Center to reflect the $19.8 million grant UNMC received this past fall from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The four-year federal grant — which has renewable options for an additional 21 years — enables UNMC to house the National Center for Health Security and Biopreparedness and teach federal health care personnel procedures in treating highly infectious diseases.
The regents, who already had approved the project’s budget and scope in September, approved a new budget of $118.9 million (formerly $102 million) and an increase in the overall size of the structure by about 8,142 gross square feet to a total of 191,884 gross square feet.
Hausmann Construction currently is excavating the area on the southeast corner of 42nd and Emile Streets. During the initial phase, they also will raze a rust-colored metal structure, which formerly housed General Supply. This is expected to occur the week of Jan. 30. Additionally, Hausmann Construction is responsible for the installation of the deep foundations for the multi-level facility.
A webcam, perched on The Lied Transplant Center, soon will provide a continuous view of the construction site.
Bidding on the construction phase will begin shortly and a formal groundbreaking ceremony is planned for early April (date to be announced). Construction will begin in April with substantial completion expected in September 2018 when UNMC will host the National Modeling & Simulation Coalition Annual Meeting.
Elsewhere in the Global Center, UNMC faculty and students will have the opportunity to create software and 3-D content, which will put UNMC on the front line in the development of health care education content.
The iEXCEL℠ vision also will be deployed across Nebraska’s communities and provide educational opportunities and training for the military, first responders and all practicing health care professionals.