The University of Nebraska Medical Center, partnered with UNK, has opened its new Health Science Education Center II for students to take classes starting this spring. In addition to new classrooms and simulation labs, UNMC has also added the College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy and College of Public Health to the Kearney campus, making it more comparable to UNMC in Omaha.
As UNMC continues to grow, bringing more options to the rural side of Nebraska has been a focus for the addition.
“The goal of this partnership with UNMC and UNK is to provide health professions education in central Nebraska, but in a more rural community to build a bigger healthcare workforce in smaller towns,” said Kyle Meyer, UNMC dean of allied health professions.
The hope is that these new professional programs will encourage students to stay rural if they know they want to work in that environment post-graduation.
“For UNMC, it expands healthcare options on this side of the state,” said Carter Schultz, a senior pharmacy student. “It’s not a secret that we are in a healthcare shortage, so having a college this close to the panhandle and other rural areas will provide more career opportunities. If you know you want to practice in a rural setting, it is especially nice to go to school where you want to be.”
Planning for the project started in 2022, with construction ending in December 2025, and students beginning classes for the spring 2026 semester there. Among many other donations to the building, some of the principal donors included the City of Kearney and the Bill and Ruth Scott Foundation, as well as the American Rescue Plan Act federal stimulus bill from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new space includes improved simulation labs, classrooms, faculty offices and study spaces.
“In the old building, there were lots of classrooms without windows, which made for very long days inside,” said Alyssa Kolbo, a senior nursing student. “The coolest thing about the new building is the simulation labs, though. They have more advanced technology and show real-life experiences with different types of classrooms, such as a fully furnished apartment and working oxygen tanks, which we didn’t have before.”
By fall of 2029, UNMC is expected to have around 1,000 students through all programs at the Kearney location alone. This growth has come from early recruitment programs, clinical preparedness experiences and the Kearney Health Opportunities Program.
“We start educating students in seventh through 12th grades about different careers available in healthcare to generate more awareness for them through a program called Health Science Explorers,” said Peggy Abels, director of health sciences at UNK. “After we get them on campus, we work with our Hospital Partner Program. This allows students to do clinical internships and shadowing within the 19 hospitals around the community and to ultimately provide a larger workforce in Nebraska.”
This expansion has affected the Kearney community and is likely to continue as more students join the program. Enrollment in healthcare programs contributes to addressing workforce demands in rural communities.
“We will continue to partner with communities across the state to identify where their needs are and connect our consistent, annual graduates with those specific needs,” Meyer said. “The goal of this initiative is to create and sustain a high-quality, suitable workforce for rural Nebraska.”
The official ribbon-cutting for the building will be on May 14.
