Utility and site work will begin over the next few months on the largest public-private partnership in University of Nebraska history.
On Friday, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved the first intermediate design report for Project Health, a $2.19 billion health care facility at UNMC and Nebraska Medicine. The facility will be a clinical learning center to educate and train the next generation of health care providers, conduct research and offer clinical trials.
“Project Health will be an ultramodern facility that will provide additional health care professionals throughout urban and rural Nebraska, for decades to come,” NU President Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, said. “We are grateful to all of the benefactors – private and public – who continue to work together to bring this vision into reality.”
The IDR approved Friday is the first of several IDR submissions expected for the project. It provides approval for utilities on the site, installation of water and drainage systems, site excavation and preconstruction work for heavy building components such as elevator shafts.
Project Health will be built on the med center’s main campus on a vacant, 7.5-acre site formerly occupied by JP Lord Elementary School and the Munroe-Meyer Institute, both of which were relocated in Omaha.
Project Health is the first phase of Project NExT, a joint effort between UNMC and Nebraska Medicine. The project would be the largest in university history, exceeding the $370 million Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center that opened in June 2017.
James Linder, MD, Nebraska Medicine CEO and board chair, said the facility will enable Nebraska Medicine to fulfill its mission as the primary academic teaching hospital for UNMC.
“In this facility, we will not only provide the best care available to hospital patients, but also train and educate learners to ensure that they provide the highest quality care to patients throughout Nebraska and beyond. Project Health will allow us to improve access to health care for more Nebraskans.”
H. Dele Davies, MD, interim chancellor at UNMC, said this transformational public-private partnership project will enable UNMC to add close to 200 more health professional learners annually at a time when health care workforce shortages are prevalent across the state. The project also will significantly increase opportunities for interprofessional teaching and clinical translational research, he said.
“The existing facilities, now over 70 years old, were not designed for learners to gain vital clinical experience nor for researchers to optimally administer breakthrough clinical trials,” Dr. Davies said. “Project Health is being built with these goals in mind, so we truly can fulfill our mission to create a healthy future for all individuals. We are excited to see the project take this next step forward.”