New medical complex in Kearney to benefit panhandle healthcare

A new Sciences Education Complex in Kearney promises to supply panhandle residents with more health professionals and to give them a location closer to home in which to study.

Construction is set to begin in January 2014 on the $19 million University of Nebraska Medical Center-University of Nebraska-Kearney complex. The significance of this campus to those in the panhandle is that students who want to get an education in health professions through University of Nebraska won't have to travel all the way to Omaha, said Kyle Meyer, senior associate dean at UNMC School of Allied Health Professions.

School officials associated with the project visited Sidney Regional Medical Center last Thursday to share the ways in which this education center will be beneficial to both the medical community and the residents of western Nebraska.

The school of allied health will be expanding five of its 13 programs at this new facility. These are physicians assistant, physical therapist, clinical laboratory scientist, radiographer and ultrasound. The school decided to expand these specific programs because they have the largest workforce need.

Julie Slagle, vice president of patient services at SRMC said that when students are educated in Nebraska many come back to the areas where they grew up to work.

"I think the Kearney complex will provide us with the ability to give students clinical experience and recruit back to rural Nebraska," Slagle said.

Many of the employees at SRMC are Sidney natives, because those who aren't familiar with a small town lifestyle don't understand its benefits.

"It takes a special individual to want to work in rural Nebraska," Slagle said.

This complex will give more opportunities in the healthcare field for those living in the western part of the state.

"The goal is to increase care opportunities for central and western Nebraska, said Charles Bicak, UNK senior vice chancellor of academic and student affairs.

The focus of the project is to bring key areas in nursing and allied health and move them west, and through this, to serve those living in western Nebraska.

"It's for those who may not want or have the financial capability to go to Omaha," Bicak said.

Working with hospitals and medical centers in the entire western portion of the state will be important to students and faculty at this new complex.

"The real key to success is community partnership," Bicak said.

UNK allied health professions and the school of nursing already partner with medical facilities in western Nebraska to give students clinical experience.

Kearney will have advanced distance learning delivery technology, which will allow professors in Omaha and Kearney to teach classes at either campus. They will also be able to connect with the faculty at facilities like SRMC for continuing education.

At the new facility, the UNMC College of Nursing will grow its bachelor's degrees in nursing as well as its graduate programs for nurse practitioners.

"This gives us the opportunity to expand and move into new space and continue to solve the nursing shortage," said Juliann Sebastian, dean of the college of nursing.

The HSEC is a component of the Building a Healthier Nebraska Initiative approved by the state legislature in 2012. The state allocated $15 million for construction. UNK is providing $4 million in private funds, while the project will also receive an additional $1 million from Good Samaritan Hospital and Catholic Health Initiatives.

The U.S. department of labor predicts that there will be a shortage of almost 1.2 million registered nurses in this country by 2020. The Nebraska Center for Nursing predicts a shortage of more than 3,800 nurses in this state by 2020.

This complex will help address that lack of healthcare professionals in rural Nebraska.

"We're continuing to find new ways to serve the community," Sebastian said.