UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey Gold and UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen count down the beam raising, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
KEARNEY — A beam raising ceremony was held on Monday, April 1 to commemorate the ongoing construction of Rural Health Education Building on the campus of the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
The new facility represents a further partnership between the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) and University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC).
UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen welcomed everyone to the remarks which were held in the UNMC Health Science Education Complex due to the fickle Nebraska weather.
Kristensen said that the construction of the Rural Health Education Building a, “historic event,” for both UNK and the state of Nebraska.
He said that this was more than a celebration of just a building, but the continued partnership between UNK and UNMC, who have worked together with a shared vision of benefiting rural healthcare in the state.
Kristensen noted the challenges that rural medicine faces in the state, including the fact that over a dozen counties lack a primary physician.
With the Rural Health Education Building, Kristensen said they are, “constructing a future,” that will be a model for the country and expects that this will be copied nationwide.
He said the graduates from the program will be the backbone of healthcare in the state.
Kristensen then introduced UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey Gold, M.D., adding that he has been a true partner in the project, and it couldn’t have gotten to this point without him.
Gold began his remarks by thanking Kristensen in turn, who received a round of applause and standing ovation. Kristensen is the outgoing Chancellor and will be retiring from the position after 22 years of service.
Gold looked out the windows to the frame of the Rural Health Education Building and said that as he looks at the steel, he sees the future of rural health education, one that has no peer in any other part of the country.
Speaking to the challenges of rural healthcare, Gold said that “We could wring our hands about the future, but we are here to do something about it.”
He said the $95 million project has not been easy to bring to fruition, but it, “took a village, and a family. The future looks incredibly bright.”
Gold said the beam that was to be raised had been signed by people from all over the state, including Governor Jim Pillen, state senators, UNMC staff, students, etc.
Following the remarks, those who braved the cold watched as the beam was hoisted into position and affixed to the structure by the construction workers, who shared a handshake to mark the occasion.
Rural Health Education Building
The Rural Health Education Building will help to address the critical need for additional health care professionals in rural communities by allowing more students to study and train in central Nebraska.
“The Rural Health Education Building will build upon an existing partnership between UNK and UNMC that’s shown great success. The two institutions opened a $19 million Health Science Education Complex on UNK’s west campus in 2015, and that facility quickly filled to capacity,” according to UNK.
More than 300 students are pursuing health care related degrees at the existing facility. It was noted that 85 percent of graduates from these programs start their medical careers in Nebraska.
The Rural Health Care Education building will grow the total number of students to 600, support 240 local jobs and have an annual economic impact estimated to be around $34.5 million.
The new $95 million facility will feature state-of-the-art classrooms, extensive simulations and clinical skills laboratories for pre-clinical education and complex clinical scenarios and simulated primary care spaces, UNK stated.
The new building could be completed as early as 2025.
The idea is for the facility to help expand the state’s talent pipeline by growing the existing UNMC programs offered in Kearney.
“The new Rural Health Education Building will allow UNMC to expand its existing nursing programs and bring new options to the UNK campus, including occupational therapy, medical nutrition, genetic counseling and respiratory care – all high-need areas in rural Nebraska,” UNK stated in a release.
The building will stand three stories high and occupy 110,000 square feet and will be located on the west side of the UNK campus, north of the Health Science Education Complex.
“For the first time, the UNMC College of Medicine will educate physicians in rural Nebraska, and a Master of Health Administration will be added to complement UNK’s undergraduate program,” per UNK.
The need in rural Nebraska is considered severe, 14 of the state’s 93 counties have no rural physicians, and 17 have no pharmacists.
During the groundbreaking ceremony in September 2023, Gold said, We are not just building a building, we are changing the human workforce that will not only fill this community, but every hospital and clinic in rural Nebraska.”
Gold said the Rural Health Education Building will be the largest collaborative, interdisciplinary facility in the United States.
