Regents OK shared governance of Nebraska Medicine with Omaha Community Foundation

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents gave the final go-ahead Tuesday to share governance of the Nebraska Medicine healthcare system with Omaha philanthropists and bring in money to expand facilities.

The new board governing Nebraska Medicine will include four regents and four members from the Omaha Community Foundation, which will contribute an initial $300 million, said Regent Chairman Paul Kenney. Neither the regents nor the foundation representatives have yet been named publicly.

The money will go toward a more than $2 billion development in Omaha called Project Health, which will replace the 70-year old Clarkson Hospital with a new, 14-story, 1.5 million-square-foot teaching hospital.

Until this year, Nebraska Medicine had been jointly owned by the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Clarkson Regional Health Services.

When Clarkson left the partnership, the university assumed a debt of $600 million for its share of the land and buildings it acquired. That caused some members of the Nebraska Legislature heartburn, said Speaker John Arch, who said it was a “no-brainer” to seek help from the Omaha philanthropic community.

Arch, along with Gov. Jim Pillen and UNL Athletic Director Troy Dannen were on hand to endorse the deal at Tuesday’s meeting.

NU President Jeffrey Gold said the project will be historic. He said it would be “the largest public-private partnership ever contemplated in the state of Nebraska” and “the largest economic development project, which will bring over 8,000 new high-paying jobs to the state,” while improving health care.

UNMC Chancellor H. Dele Davis said the state has so far provided $300 million, the university and UNMC about $250 million, and Nebraska Medicine more than $500 million toward Project Health.

The regents voted unanimously to authorize Kenney to negotiate final arrangements with the Omaha Community Foundation, to be approved at a future meeting.