Largest venture in NU history, Project Health, gets green light from Board of Regents

LINCOLN —  A vote Thursday by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents launched the design phase of the largest venture in NU history: the $2.19 billion Project Health.

In approving a “program statement” for the planned health care facility, the regents unlocked $50 million in existing philanthropic funds to start pre-construction design and planning work.

The complex is expected to be ultramodern and span some 1.26 million square feet on the main campus of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in midtown Omaha.

It is to be a clinical teaching center that trains the next generation of health care providers and also be the primary in-patient hospital for Nebraska Medicine, with more than 550 beds. Research and clinical trials also will take place there.

Boost to student enrollment

NU representatives describe Project Health as the largest project in university history, surpassing the size and cost of the $370 million Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, which opened on campus in 2017.

NU President Jeffrey Gold, who championed Project Health while he was UNMC chancellor, said Thursday that the public-private venture will help address state workforce woes and have “transformational impact” on Nebraska.

The facility is to rise on a now cleared 7.5-acre site formerly occupied in part by the Munroe-Meyer Institute, which relocated.

The updated teaching environment would enable the medical center to further its mission and attract students, said UNMC interim Chancellor Dele Davies. He noted that the medical center must grow student enrollment by up to 25% to meet the needs of rural and urban areas of the state. 

“This will be possible only with significant improvement of our physical environment,” said Davies.

Dr. James Linder, CEO and board chair of Nebraska Medicine, said in a statement that he appreciated the regents’ unanimous support for the project.

“The new facility will enable Nebraska Medicine to fulfill our mission as the primary teaching hospital for UNMC and Clarkson College,” Linder said. “This will strengthen our ability to educate and train more health science students and deliver the highest quality care to all Nebraskans.”

Project Health — short for Project Health: Building the Healthiest Nebraska — is the first phase of a broader vision called Project NExT.

Future phases call for partnerships with federal and regional agencies that could, for one, lead to a civilian-military medical facility that would also respond to national catastrophic disaster events such as another pandemic or an overt attack. Total investment could exceed $4 billion.

New undergrad programs

Also Thursday, the regents approved creation of a few new undergraduate programs, with a  Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence drawing the most attention.

Believed to be the first of its kind in Nebraska, the AI program to be offered at the University of Nebraska at Omaha would address a burgeoning workforce, supporters said.

AI is literally changing by the minute, Gold said, and is poised to change every aspect of life.

“That’s both exciting and a little scary,” he said. 

Undoubtedly, Gold said, the technology is here to stay and the university system should be ready to help students lead in the field.

Regent Barbara Weitz of Omaha offered praise, saying the degree shows that the university is looking ahead — “to be ready for the world that’s coming.”

Expected to launch in fall 2025, the AI program is to draw on coursework in UNO’s computer science program as well as UNL’s data science degree.

UNO Chancellor Joanne Li said the program will put the state on the “cutting edge” of training a high-tech workforce.

The regents also gave the green light Thursday to creating undergraduate certificates in wildlife habitat management and in esports media and communication, both at UNL. An NU statement says the esports media certificate will prepare students for work in electronic sports, or competitive video gaming, which NU says is a fast-growing industry whose audience is expected to top 1.4 billion by 2025.

Also Thursday, the regents approved the two-year budget request, including a 3% increase for salaries and 5% increases for health insurance. Gold described the figures as “placeholders” until collective bargaining and health insurance plans are finalized later this year.