Administration

UNMC/The Nebraska Medical Center Community Partnership involves patients/consumers, health care providers, outreach workers, community leaders and organizations, and UNMC students.

In 1996, UNMC was a driving force in creating a partnership that sought to improve the health of Omaha’s African-American population, which had been traditionally underserved. Since then, the partnership has expanded into other areas of the metropolitan Omaha area.

Today, the UNMC/The Nebraska Medical Center Community Partnership seeks to improve the health of underserved communities by:

• Providing health care services.
• Offering resources.
• Enhancing the educational opportunities of UNMC students.
• Increasing opportunities for minority students to explore health careers.
• Working collaboratively with more than 50 agencies and organizations to provide programs and services to residents of the community. 

Many of the programs have been designed to meet the needs of the newly arrived immigrants, the disparities in minority health, and access to health care in the community. They include:

North Omaha Community Care Council (NOCCC).  In 1996, UNMC and a group of university-employed physicians created a partnership with an advisory group which became the North Omaha Community Care Council.  A new facility, Baker Place, was built in the community based upon advice of the 21-member council on how best to deliver health care services to the underserved. The facility continues to be a training site for medical students and offers a wide range of healthcare services. The NOCCC meets regularly with UNMC and The Nebraska Medical Center faculty/staff to address community health issues.

South Omaha Community Care Council (SOCCC).  Following the success of the North Omaha Community Care Council, UNMC and The Nebraska Medical Center approached leaders in South Omaha about forming a similar council to address health care needs unique to their community.  The SOCCC has 26 elected members and more than 55 members-at-large.  The SONA Family Healthcare Clinic serves the health care needs in the South Omaha Community and is a training site for the medical, nursing and allied health students. 

Awareness. The community care councils publish a joint newsletter in English and Spanish that is distributed throughout the communities and campus. The newsletter lists upcoming health/community programs, and it provides education on a health issue that has been identified by the community as important.

Collaborative community/campus partnerships.   The Community Partnership has collaborated with more than 50 organizations, businesses and agencies to improve the health and quality of life of individuals in the underserved communities. 

Heartland Latino Leadership Conference.   UNMC was the co-founder of the Heartland Latino Leadership Conference in Omaha in November 2000.  The conference assists in developing skills and opportunities necessary to enhance effective working relationships.  The first regional conference had 420 people in attendance.

For the Love of Family.  The South Omaha Community Care Council asked for assistance from the campus in 2000 to find a solution to a very serious problem of family separation in the South Omaha area. 

The Department of Social Services had removed children from several of the newly arrived Latino families. Parents were ordered to attend parenting classes before the children could be returned to their homes. However, only one Spanish-speaking parenting class was offered in the community, and its modest cost was prohibitive for some families. The class also lacked education in adjusting the responsibilities of living in the American culture.

SOCCC and Community Partnership staff expanded a previously developed Spanish-speaking parenting program to include the much-needed cultural adjustment issues.  The state provided $25,000 to pilot several sessions of the program,  and now is committed to continuing the program.  All of the parents who have completed the eight-week session have been reunited with their children.

Omaha Healthcare Consortium (OHC).   Community Partnership took the lead in the establishing and coordinating the Omaha Healthcare Consortium (OHC), a 21-member health care partnership whose goal is to find solutions to the problem of caring for the low-income uninsured in the metropolitan Omaha area. OHC has agreed upon a model of care and a plan to develop the infrastructure to more efficiently meet these needs.

Patient education programs.  Professional staff from The Nebraska Medical Center teach a series of diabetes education classes at no cost in North Omaha.  They also train bilingual nurses to teach the same classes in South Omaha. In an associated project, SOCCC developed a cooking video in Spanish that demonstrated how to prepare traditional foods to comply with a diabetic health program. Copies of the video and accompanying recipes are available in appropriate community organizations and libraries.

Center for Human Diversity.  UNMC/The Nebraska Medical Center Community Partnership is one of the founding institutional members of the Center for Human Diversity, which is administered by the Urban League of Nebraska. The purpose of the center is to sensitize community professionals to the culturally competent provision of health care services to all patients and families receiving care from staff and students.

Lift Every Voice!  UNMC participates in a diabetes education initiative sponsored by the Urban League of Nebraska, Inc. in partnership with UNMC and the National Diabetes Education Program, a joint program of the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  “Lift Every Voice!” is now a national program and is operational in 16 participating affiliates of the National Urban League.   UNMC is the only major health science education center that serves as a principal technical assistant to the National Urban League.

Head Start training program. UNMC, in partnership with Head Start, developed a program to serve children and to develop a Head Start training program focusing on sensitivity and skill building for staff working with developmental disabilities. The program has children from a diverse ethnic/racial groups, as well as children who have developmental disabilities and those who don’t.

K-College Continuum Outreach Minority Health Science Student Recruitment  Pipeline Plus, an expanded partnership with the Omaha Public Schools (OPS), was initiated in August 2000. The partnership is intended to:

• Enhance the health-science educational opportunities of OPS students.
• Expand the professional development of teachers.
• Develop a comprehensive health careers track with emphasis on minority student recruitment to the health sciences.
• To work collaboratively to provide health care information and services for student/school health needs. In one project, a health careers course is taught to 11th- and 12th-graders.  Also, UNMC provides professional staff time and other resources to develop and implement programs. A hotline allows OPS teachers and staff to contact UNMC faculty on specific health topics.

The Career Connection Science Academy is a partnership with Girls Inc. of Omaha and the campus.  Each month through the academy, about 20 female fourth- through seventh-graders visit the UNMC campus, where they are introduced to different careers in health sciences.  An experienced science teacher is available full-time to work with the girls, most of whom are African-American.

Community Academy Health Science Careers Exploration Program.  In the UNMC Community Academy Health Science Careers Exploration Program, eighth- through 12^th-graders engage in hands-on learning experiences in the health science careers.  Emphasis is placed on the recruitment of underrepresented minorities, females and those who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Metro Community College partnership.  To recruit minority students for health science careers, UNMC formed a partnership with Metro Community College. All 16 of the UNMC professional programs have comprehensive signed articulation agreements with Metro. A member of the UNMC Office of Student Equity and Multicultural Affairs is on the Metro campus  each week to meet with students.

NU Paths.  UNMC has developed a minority recruitment partnership with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) called NU Paths. UNL has built long-time relationships with predominately minority schools across the country to recruit students to UNL.  UNMC is in the process of implementing a minority recruitment program with University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). The University of Nebraska at Kearney will be the next planned program of development.

Additional outreach programs

Mobile Nursing Center. The Mobile Nursing Center (MNC) is an innovative health care delivery system in partnership with College of Nursing and the Cosmopolitan Club.  Cosmopolitan Club is a nonprofit organization dedicated to diabetes education and screening.  Eight years ago, the club provided funding to customize a large recreational vehicle that could travel to underserved areas and provide health screenings. The MNC responds to numerous requests yearly for service at health fairs and a variety of health events in both urban and rural communities. 

Mini-Medical School. UNMC began offering Mini-Medical School to the general public in 1995.  In the fall and in the spring, UNMC faculty members teach health-related topics one night a week for four weeks.  Through satellite transmission, UNMC offers the program to up to 16 additional sites in communities across Nebraska.  Approximately 300-450 people participate.

Adopt-A-School Partnership. In 1990, UNMC entered into a formal partnership with three schools in the North Omaha community.  The schools are Fontenelle Elementary School, Monroe Middle School and Benson High School.  Because of the proximity of the three schools, UNMC has a presence in the lives of many students as they progress from K-12 grades.  Some of the adopt-a-school activities include:

• Science achievement certificates awarded quarterly to elementary school students who maintain a “1” or who improve their science grades by one complete grade each quarter.
• UNMC campus hosts A Day At College experience for all fourth-graders. The students arrive on campus for a day of hands-on learning experiences taught by UNMC faculty and staff members.
• The Annual DOC (Doctors Ought to Care) Sports Carnival hosted by the department of family medicine targets students at the middle school. Activities are designed with anti-smoking messages.
• Pediatric residents spend three hours per week during their monthlong adolescent health rotations. The resident is able to observe “normal” adolescent behavior as well as teach health related topics as appropriate.

Munroe Meyer Institute (MMI) clinics. MMI is a federally designated University Center of Excellence in developmental disabilities education, research and service. Many statewide services are supported by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services through the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grant and the Medically Handicapped Children’s Program (MHCP, Title V).

MMI provides:

• MCH-finded clinics for children with special health care needs four times a year in Scottsbluff, kearney, Hastings and Grand Island.
• Quarterly clinics for children with cerebral palsy and mid-line neurological defects in Scottsbluff and Grand Island.
• Monthly clinics for children with diabetes in Lincoln, Norfolk and North Platte.
• Psychologists to conduct clinics twice each week in Columbus, Hastings and Fremont to expand behavorial health services.

WIC program. The Women Infants and Children supplemental food program at UNMC is dedicated to improving the health and nutritional status of pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants, and children under the age of five. Funded through a federal grant, the program is overseen by state and county agencies and administered by UNMC. These WIC clinics provide services to around 5,000 participants in the Omaha community monthly.

Family Planning. Family Planning provides services to underserved populations in Nebraska at risk for unintended pregnancy. The program is subsided with federal funds, and services are provided on a sliding fee scale.

Maternal Care Program. The Maternal Care Program (MCP)  provides comprehensive prenatal health care services for pregnant women. Although these services are available to all pregnant women, traditionally the focus has been for the economically disadvantaged and the target populations of adolescents and minorities. MCP is federally funded through Title V Maternal Child Health Block grant funds.