University of Nebraska Medical Center

The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) is a public academic health science center in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1869 and chartered as a private medical college in 1881, UNMC became part of the University of Nebraska in 1902. Rapidly expanding in the early 20th century, the university founded a hospital, dental college, pharmacy college, college of nursing, and college of medicine. It later added colleges of public health and allied health professions. One of Omaha's top employers, UNMC had an annual budget of $1.066 billion for 2025 to 2026 and an economic impact of $5.9 billion. History The University of Nebraska Medical Center was formed in 1869 as the Omaha Medical College. The college was organized as a training school by several Nebraskan physicians and was originally private. The college was officially chartered in 1881. Omaha Medical College officially joined the University of Nebraska in 1902. Under the University of Nebraska, the college grew, adding a dental college in 1903, a pharmacy college in 1908, and a nursing college in 1917. That same year, the college formed a hospital on campus, which later opened in 1919. In 1968, medicine, nursing, dentistry and pharmacy operations were all consolidated by the system to form the University of Nebraska Medical Center. That same year, the university separated from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and officially joined the University of Nebraska system In 1997, the university hospital merged with Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hospital, then-affiliate of Clarkson College. The resulting entity was the Nebraska Health System, now known as Nebraska Medicine, to which the university is affiliated with. The following year, the university and hospital opened the 14-story Lied Transplant Center, which at 230 feet (70 m) tall, is the twelfth tallest building in Omaha. Ebola epidemic response During the 2014 Ebola epidemic, the federal government tapped Nebraska as one of three units prepared to accept highly infectious patients in the United States. Today, UNMC/Nebraska Medicine has the largest operational biocontainment unit in the nation. UNMC's academic, local, state, and federal partnerships have expanded with the initiation of the National Ebola Training and Education Center (NETEC). the Special Pathogens Research Network (SPRN) and the National Training, Simulation & Quarantine Center. These organizations and additional alliances are housed under the Global Center for Health Security. In 2016, UNMC was awarded a $19.8 million grant from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The four-year federal grant — which has renewable options for an additional 21 years — enables UNMC to teach federal health care personnel procedures in treating highly infectious diseases. The University of Nebraska Medical Center created the Global Center for Health Security in 2017. The goal of the creation of the center is to transform and centralize "infectious disease response and biodefense research." Among the reasons behind the move were concerns about outbreaks of viruses, infectious diseases, and an environment where a biological terrorist attack is a possibility. In 2016, a UNMC team of researchers was awarded a five-year research grant from the National Institutes of Health totaling nearly $20 million, through the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program and the NIH's National Institute of General Medical Studies. The grant will focus on developing early career researchers into independent scientists and increasing the infrastructure and other resources needed to support clinical/translational research (CTR) around the region. The grant will create the Great Plains IDeA-CTR Network, a collaboration involving nine institutions in four states: Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Kansas SARS-CoV-2 epidemic response In 2020, UNMC and Nebraska Medicine were enlisted to support a federal operation that evacuated 57 Americans from Wuhan, China, during an epidemic of novel coronavirus, SARS CoV-2. The group was placed in quarantine at Camp Ashland, a Nebraska National Guard facility near Omaha. Thirteen Americans were repatriated to University of Nebraska Medical Center on February 17, from the Diamond Princess off the coast of Japan. Ten had tested positive, and three others had been exposed. Three days later, eleven of these people tested positive. UNMC scientists, working with evidence gathered in the National Quarantine Center, in the new $119 million Dr. Edwin G. & Dorothy Balbach Davis Global Center on UNMC's Omaha campus, found the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads through airborne transmission. UNMC led the first clinical trial in the U.S. on the use of remdesivir to treat patients hospitalized with COVID-19. UNMC developed a series of guides to help meatpacking facilities, child development centers, court systems, K-12 education and higher education minimize the risk of COVID-19 and reduce disruptions to business operations. UNMC scientists developed a safe and effective method to decontaminate N95 respirators using ultraviolet light. The process, shared with hospital systems across the U.S., allowed multiple reuse of N95s when personal protective equipment was in short supply. 2020–present In August 2024, in partnership with Nebraska Medicine, Project Health was announced. The facility will be 400 feet (120 m) tall and will be used by both UNMC and Nebraska Medicine. In November 2025, the University of Nebraska system approved a joint-accreditation between the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Once complete, the University of Nebraska Medical Center will become an in-name-only campus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The joint accreditation process is expected to take affect in 2026. In January 2026, UNMC regents announced a vote that would result in Clarkson Regional Health Services, an affiliate of Clarkson College, relinquishing its 50% membership in Nebraska Medicine. The move was claimed to have been caused by Clarkson wanting to divest from Nebraska Medicine. Additionally, Clarkson would sell its campus to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for $300 million. Nebraska Medicine publicly responded against the merger, claiming that they would not let it happen. On January 8, 2026, university regents postponed the vote following pressure from members of the Nebraska State Legislature. The University of Nebraska board of regents voted on January 15 to approve the acquisition of Clarkson's membership. The merger will be completed by July 2026. To prevent UNMC from taking full control of Nebraska Medicine, the board filed a lawsuit against UNMC that same day. On February 2, 2026, UNMC regents fired the board opposed to the merger and replaced them with an interim board. Under the new leadership, Nebraska Medicine dropped the lawsuit. Academics and rankings The University of Nebraska Medical Center is a public academic health science center, and is a part of the University of Nebraska system. In 2024, UNMC's bachelor's in nursing program was ranked 19th of 656 nursing programs by U.S. News & World Report. UNMC was also ranked as a Tier 1 institution for primary care training. Other programs that also received a national ranking include graduates practicing in rural health care (9th of 168); research (Tier 2); the College of Pharmacy (19th of 141); the College of Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice program (59th of 389); the College of Public Health (46th of 213), and the College of Allied Health Professions' physical therapy program (33 of 245) and physician assistant program (16 of 211). UNMC was named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Top Producing Institution for the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 academic years by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Colleges and degree-granting institutes The University of Nebraska Medical Center includes several colleges and degree-granting institutes. These include the Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing Pharmacy, Public Health, Allied Health Professions, the Eppley Institute for Cancer Research and Allied Diseases and the Munroe-Meyer Institute for Developmental Disabilities. A majority of these colleges are located on UNMC's Midtown campus. The College of Dentistry is located on the east campus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska. Additionally, the College of Nursing also has locations on UNL's campus. The college also offers nursing and additional health programs at the University of Nebraska at Kearney in Kearney, Nebraska. Campus The University of Nebraska Medical Center's primary campus is located in Midtown Omaha, Nebraska, United States. The campus is owned by UNMC and Clarkson Regional Health Services, and is shared with Nebraska Medicine, and has been since it was spun-off into a separate entity in 1997. Major buildings on campus include the Lied Transplant Center, Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Clarkson Tower, Dunham Research Towers I & II, and the under-construction Project Health Tower. Notable alumni Stephen Gilson, theorist and policy analyst known for work in disability, diversity, and health policy Bob Kerrey, former Nebraska governor, former U.S. senator from Nebraska, Medal of Honor recipient for service in the Vietnam War as a Navy Seal James Linder, author, academic, business leader, and authority on university research commercialization Rod Markin, pioneer and leading authority in the field of laboratory automation who designed one of the world's first automated clinical laboratory specimen, device and analyzer management systems John Nwangwu, public health doctor with expertise in infectious diseases and epidemiology, and consultant at the World Health Organization Richard Allen Raymond, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety 2005–2009 Steven M. Reppert, neuroscientist known for his contributions to the fields of chronobiology and neuroethology Matthew Ricketts, first African-American graduate of UNMC College of Medicine and first African-American member of the Nebraska Legislature Edward Rosenbaum, author of The Doctor, an autobiographical chronicle of his experience with throat cancer, which was the basis of the movie The Doctor, starring William Hurt as a physician modeled on Rosenbaum Nancy Snyderman, physician, author, and former broadcast journalist who served as a medical correspondent for ABC News and as chief medical editor for NBC News Francis Townsend, physician best known for his revolving old-age pension proposal during the Great Depression, which influenced the establishment of the Roosevelt administration's Social Security system Charles Vacanti, researcher in tissue engineering and stem cells Rob Zatechka, former football offensive lineman in the National Football League who went to medical school after his NFL career ended See also Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases Notes References External links Official website