The University of Nebraska Medical Center and UNK will open the Rural Health Education Building in early 2026 for rural medical students at UNK. The expansion will add UNMC College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy and the College of Public Health to preexisting health science programs at UNK.
With the addition of the $95 million, three-story, 110,000-square-foot building, this facility will create more opportunities for students to practice medical careers closer to home.
“We know that if we want health care professionals to practice in rural areas of a state, we have to train them there,” said Nicole Carritt, assistant vice chancellor for Health Workforce Education at UNMC and relations director of Rural Health Initiatives.
The Rural Health Education Building addresses a critical need for additional healthcare professionals in rural communities by allowing more students to study and train in central Nebraska. Carritt said approximately 86% of the students who have trained at UNK in nursing and allied health professions through the partnerships have stayed in rural areas to practice.
When completed, the Rural Health Education Building and UNK’s current Health Science Education Complex will have a $34.5 million economic impact annually.
“On the western side of Nebraska, we are really limited on hospitals, medical schools and healthcare access,” said Skyler Sudbeck, a UNK nursing student. “I think by building our program at UNK we can offer more medical majors to those kids from rural towns that would hopefully return to their hometowns and be able to offer their service
Students will be able to enroll in the newly expanded programs beginning in fall 2025, using existing UNK facilities until the new building opens. The Rural Health Education Building will train more than 300 students.
“We are looking at about 250 local jobs that will be supported and have a huge economic impact on communities with the addition of this facility,” Carritt said.
The facility received funding support from The Nebraska Legislature, giving $60 million from the federal American Rescue Plan, a law signed in March 2021 that provides $350 billion in funding to state and local governments affected by COVID-19. $35 million came from local public funding, the city of Kearney gave $5 million and Central Community College donated $1.5 million. The William and Ruth Scott Family Foundation is the lead donor to the expansion.
“I do think UNK will grow into a more medical-based campus,” Sudbeck said. “UNMC in Kearney still gives that homey smaller town type of feeling to students that don’t want to go to college in a bigger city like Lincoln, and I think that will draw more students.”
UNMC and UNK have an existing partnership starting in 2015. Students have access to smaller class sizes, allowing for more one-on-one opportunities for individualized attention. UNK’s partnerships with UNMC, hospitals and many more medical clinics puts students on a successful path.