OMAHA — About $1.22 billion was unlocked Friday to begin the most visible phase yet of Project Health, an Omaha hospital and training complex described as the largest and most ambitious undertaking in University of Nebraska history.

The NU Board of Regents, in approving an “intermediate design review,” gave its green light to construction of the core and shell of a skyline-changing structure on about 7.5 acres of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s midtown Omaha campus.

NU President Dr. Jeffrey Gold, a former UNMC chancellor, said this phase keeps the project within the overall $2.19 billion price tag to be covered by public and private sources. Officials have said that funds won’t be committed unless they’re secured.

“This initiative represents not only the most ambitious project in our university’s history but is one of the most consequential investments in the health and well-being of the people we serve,” Gold said during the monthly regents meeting.

Training Ground

He said Project Health will be the state’s largest teaching, clinical research and clinical health care facility. It will serve as the primary inpatient hospital for Nebraska Medicine, creating more than 550 beds, and as a training ground for the next generations of the state’s health care professionals.

Friday’s action on the UNMC-area project came as the broader NU system and its campuses deal with carrying out major budget cuts, which brought multiple testifiers to the meeting to voice opposition to the trims. Much of the medical project’s state spending tracks back to years before the budget shortfall.

Gold, in addressing the regents, underscored the project’s contribution to Nebraska’s workforce demands. He said Nebraska Medicine annually serves as a training ground for more than 4,000 students across more than 50 different health programs and 10 different colleges of medicine. He said about 700 residents and fellows gain clinical experience there each year, many of whom go on to practice in urban and rural communities.

The new facility, Gold said, will allow UNMC — the state’s only public academic health science center — the ability to expand enrollment, provide more space to accelerate the transformation of learners into practitioners and expand access to research and life-saving clinical trials.

Renderings provided to regents show a grand, glassy complex connected by pedestrian skywalks to a new parking garage and the CORE tower (Campus Operations and Research Excellence) rising on the Edge District west of Omaha’s Saddle Creek Road.

UNMC Student Regent Brock Calamari was among several expressing support. He said he was impressed by the portion of Project Health geared toward student education.

“It’s kind of hard to believe that what is now a hole in the ground next to a Don and Millie’s will one day be like this giant, world-leading structure for that education of students,” he said.

Dr. Dele Davies, interim chancellor of UNMC said 30% of the project is dedicated for educational purposes, which should help fulfill a need for the medical center to grow professional learner enrollment by 20-25% to meet needs across the state.

Calamari says patients should see a difference, too.

“These rooms are purpose built. They are the future of medicine. So it will help us bring better … healthcare implementation to every single patient that comes through our halls.”

Public, Private Funds

Dating back to early 2022, the regents have approved installments to move along Project Health. The largest chunks approved before today were $50 million in July 2024 to start pre-construction design and planning. Then, in April, the board approved about $69 million for site and foundational preparation.

“This is truly the largest and highest impact, public-private partnership in our state’s history,” Gold said. Funding for the project comes from sources including philanthropists, the State of Nebraska, the City of Omaha, NU, Nebraska Medicine and private financing.

Project Health is the first phase of a broader vision called Project NExT. Future phases call for partnerships with federal and regional agencies that could, for example, lead to a civilian-military medical facility that would respond to national catastrophic disasters, such as a pandemic or biological attack. Total investment could exceed $4 billion.

Demand For Health Care Pros

Dr. Dele Davies, UNMC interim chancellor, and Dr. Jeffrey Gold, NU president, said Nebraska faces a critical need for more health care professionals and offered insight:

• Of 93 counties, 66 are medically underserved​.
• ​An uneven distribution of Nebraska health professionals shows 83% of providers reside in metro areas, while only 65% of the state’s population does.
• ​An imminent retirement boom looms over the next 5-10 years, including about 20% of practicing physicians.​ That coincides with an expected decline by 2030 of 1% of dental professionals and 9% of primary care physicians, which is defined as family medicine, general practice, internal medicine, OB/GYN, pediatrics and pediatric internal medicine.​
• ​In 2023, 21 Nebraska counties lacked a primary care physician and, according to the Nebraska Center for Nursing, the state is short 5,436 nurses this year.  ​

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/10/03/2-19-billion-project-health-take...