Nebraska Medicine

Nebraska Medicine's predecessor company, Nebraska Health System (NHS), was formed in 1997 through the merger of Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hospital and University Hospital.[2] Adjacent to the University of Nebraska's medical campus in midtown Omaha;[8] both founding entities had been active in Nebraska for some time. Clarkson Hospital had been founded in 1869 and University Hospital in 1917, making Nebraska Health System the oldest healthcare organization in the state of Nebraska. In 1998, Nebraska Health System opened the Lied Transplant Center on its Omaha campus.[2]

Nebraska Health System was renamed The Nebraska Medical Center in 2003,[2] with the adjacent University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) remaining its primary clinical partner.[9] UNMC had been founded in 1881 as the Omaha Medical College before associating with the University of Nebraska system.[7] In 2005, The Nebraska Medical Center opened the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit (NBU) as a collaboration with UNMC,[10] also opening the Hixson-Lied Center on the Omaha campus. The Nebraska Medical Center's nearby Village Pointe Cancer Center opened in 2008.[3] Nebraska Medicine was named one of America’s best hospitals in U.S. News & World Report’s 2008 publication for Cancer and Neurology & Neurosurgery. In 2010, The Nebraska Medical Center opened Bellevue Medical Center, a secondary hospital in nearby Bellevue, Sarpy County.[2] The following year, the company began to implement a new $87 million electronic health record system.[11]

In October 2014, it was announced that The Nebraska Medical Center, Bellevue Medical Center and UNMC Physicians would begin operating under Nebraska Medicine as one entity. UNMC Physicians, a clinical group formed in 1971,[2] brought 39 ambulatory clinics and a physician’s practice into Nebraska Medicine.[12] The hospitals and clinics within the Nebraska Medicine network were also renamed, as Nebraska Medicine – Nebraska Medical Center, Nebraska Medicine – Bellevue, Nebraska Medicine – Village Pointe, Nebraska Medicine – Eagle Run, and others. UNMC remained independent, but changed its branding to reflect the new Nebraska Medicine logo.[13]

On March 23, 2015, Rosanna Morris was named interim CEO of Nebraska Medicine[14] and Bradley Britigan was made interim president. Daniel DeBehnke succeeded as CEO and president in May 2016.[15] In 2016, Nebraska Medicine finished an expansion of its Village Pointe location, expanding on an outpatient surgery center and clinics.[16]

Nebraska Medicine paid $130 million in January 2016 to fully purchase Bellevue Medical Center, which it had previously been leasing. At the time, Nebraska Medicine also was partial owner of the Nebraska Orthopaedic Hospital in Omaha.[17] In February 2016, Nebraska Medicine reached Stage 7 on the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) developed by HIMSS Analytics.[11] In 2016, Nebraska Medicine finished an expansion of its Village Pointe location, expanding on an outpatient surgery center and clinics.[18] After physicians at Internal Medical Associates requested the merge, in July 2016, Nebraska Medicine assumed operations of Internal Medical Associates in Grand Island, Nebraska.[19]

In January 2017, Nebraska Medicine announced that it would open Chalco Health Center in Chalco, as a primary care clinic and its fourth immediate care location,[20] at which point it had around 40 clinic locations. That May, Nebraska Medicine opened the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, a partly public partnership with various state and county investors.[21] In September 2017, Nebraska Medicine closed its burn unit due to reduced patient volume. Opened in 1995, the unit had treated 100 burn patients annually.[22] In August 2018, James Linder was appointed CEO.[23] Nebraska Medicine and UNMC sent a team of infectious disease experts to Uganda in September 2018 to train local healthcare workers.[24] At that time, Nebraska Medicine was also "working with several Nebraska hospitals to help implement electronic medical records." Nebraska Medicine had previously provided regional laboratory services to local hospitals, since 1998, also maintaining related records.[25]

In 2018, the Nebraska Medicine network had 809 licensed beds.[9] In 2018, Elkhorn Health Center, as well as a new building for Fontenelle Health Center, opened.[26] Nebraska Medicine moved its Clarkson Family Medicine Clinic to a larger building in downtown Omaha,[27] also performing the first bloodless stem cell transplant in the state.[28] By 2019, some Nebraska Medicine hospital rooms featured virtual reality headsets to teach patients about procedures.[29] Nebraska Medicine served as an organizer of the Flood Relief Donation Management Center that March,[30] collecting donated items from corporations to help with relief efforts for flooding in Nebraska.[29] Nebraska Medicine was awarded the "Nebraska's Safest Companies" award from the Nebraska chapter of the National Safety Council, in 2019.[5] In June 2019, Nebraska Medicine was also named the best employer in Nebraska by Forbes.[31]

In 2019, U.S. News & World Report ranked Nebraska Medicine as the best regional hospital in Nebraska. It also ranked highly in the treatment of cancer, gastroenterology, neurology, neurosurgery, COPD, colon cancer surgery, heart bypass surgery, heart failure treatment, and hip replacement.[33] The company has full ownership of two hospitals and 39 specialty and primary care clinics in and around Omaha, with partial ownership in two rural hospitals and a specialty hospital. Nebraska Medicine's main campus, Nebraska Medicine – Nebraska Medical Center, has 718 beds, while its Bellevue Medical Center campus has 91 beds.[3] The company operates the largest of only four dedicated biocontainment units in the United States,[4] and is particularly recognized for programs in fields such as organ transplantation[5] cancer treatment, gastroenterology, neurology, neurosurgery, COPD, heart bypass surgery, heart failure treatment, and hip replacement. Ranked the No. 1 hospital in Nebraska and in Omaha by U.S. News & World Report in 2019. The publication also ranked Nebraska Medicine No. 35 in the United States for cancer and the best hospital in Nebraska.[6]

Nebraska Medicine is known internationally for bone marrow and organ transplantation.[5] Nebraska Medicine's stroke program,[34] heart failure program and acute myocardial infarction program[3] received the "Gold Seal of Approval" certification from The Joint Commission in 2017.[34] The Joint Commission also certified the company in inpatient diabetes and lung transplantation in 2017,[3] and the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Nebraska Medicine was certified as a level 4 epilepsy center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers, the highest rating.[35]

Nebraska Medicine operates two hospitals and 39 specialty and primary care clinics.[3] It also operates five immediate care clinics in Omaha and surrounding cities: Chalco Health Center, Eagle Run Health Center, Family Medicine at Bellevue Clinic, Midtown Health Center, and Plattsmouth Immediate Care Clinic in Plattsmouth.[32]

Nebraska Medical Center
Geography
Location	Omaha, Nebraska,  Omaha, Nebraska
Organisation
Type	Private non-profit
Affiliated university	Nebraska Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Services
Emergency department	Yes
Beds	718
Helipad	Yes
History
Opened	1997
Links
Website	Nebraska Medical Center

Commonly known as Nebraska Medical Center,[3] Nebraska Medical Center serves as Nebraska Medicine's main campus. Located in midtown Omaha, it is the largest hospital in Nebraska,[2] with 718 beds, as of 2019. It is licensed as an acute-care facility[36] with an emergency department and a number of specialty clinics,[32] and employs physicians in "all major specialties and services". The facility is the primary teaching hospital for Nebraska Medicine's academic partner, University of Nebraska Medical Center and, although they share campuses,[36] they operate independently. A number of buildings on the Nebraska Medical Center campus are operated by UNMC, for example the Eppley Cancer Institute.[7] In 2018, Becker's Hospital Review named Nebraska Medicine – Nebraska Medical Center to its "100 Great Hospitals in America" list for the fifth consecutive year,[37] ranking again in 2019.[9]

Some notable Nebraska Medicine-affiliated facilities on the Nebraska Medical Center campus include:[36]

• Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center – Associated with both Nebraska Medicine and UNMC,[7] Nebraska Medicine and UNMC spent $323 million on the center's construction, which opened to the public in June 2017.[2]
• Nebraska Biocontainment Unit –  The Nebraska Biocontainment Unit (NBU), in the Nebraska Medical Center, is a collaboration between Nebraska Medicine, UNMC, and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Commissioned in 2005 by the United States Centers for Disease Control,[10] it is the largest of the four[4] dedicated biocontainment units in the United States,[10] with a 10-bed isolation unit.[4] Staff in the unit train other healthcare practitioners on handling highly infectious diseases.[12]
• Clarkson College – Affiliated with Nebraska Medicine, Clarkson College is a nursing school on the Nebraska Medical Center campus.[38]
• Hixson-Lied Center for Clinical Excellence – The Nebraska Medical Center broke ground on the project in 2002, opening the $56.5 million facility to the public in 2005. The building covers 165,000 square feet (15,300 m²) over four floors and houses emergency, radiology, cardiology, surgery and the newborn intensive care unit.[39]
• Diabetes Center – The Diabetes Center at Nebraska Medicine combines counseling, education, research, and clinical care in treating diabetes.[40] It opened in 2008.[41]
• Lied Transplant Center – A partnership between UNMC and Nebraska Medicine, Lied Transplant Center was first built in 1999. The building houses a clinic, research labs and inpatient hospital units.[42]
• Lauritzen Outpatient Center – Opened in 2016, it has an ambulatory surgery center, clinics, a pharmacy and a laboratory.[43]

In 2010, Nebraska Medicine partnered with UNMC Physicians[2] and a group of physicians from Bellevue, Nebraska to open that city's first civilian hospital.[44]

The Village Pointe Health Center hospital campus is located near Village Pointe shopping center,[32] with services in three buildings, including a number of specialty clinics.[45]

Nebraska Orthopaedic Hospital opened in April 2004 under the ownership of several practicing orthopedic surgeons and Nebraska Medicine, which remained a partial owner when it was renamed OrthoNebraska, in 2017.[46]