The UNMC of tomorrow will be a world-class academic health science center built from a visionary plan that includes a new comprehensive cancer center, additional research towers, more clinical facilities for patient care and new education facilities.
It also will be strategically configured with the campus core – a crossroads for clinical care, education and patient services – flanked by UNMC research laboratories on the west and academic classrooms on the east.
UNMC leaders presented that vision for developing the campus infrastructure today to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. The regents will vote on the overall goals and planning concepts of the plan, not specific projects. The board will approve individual construction projects as they develop.
The 2006-2015 Facilities Development Plan represents an ongoing process to strategically forecast the physical environment needed for UNMC to accomplish its campus vision, as well as achieve its goals for increased research, expanded patient care and state-of-the-art education.
“The Facilities Development Plan is an ambitious, yet achievable, roadmap that will help us reach our goal of becoming world-class in research, education and patient care,” said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D. “The plan can, and will be, adjusted as needed, as we build on our momentum.”
To accommodate continued growth, UNMC leaders presented a new planning model that allows the 112-acre campus in midtown Omaha to remain compact, connected and walkable, while expanding in research, clinical care and academics. As new buildings rise on the campus periphery or are redeveloped, UNMC will create distinct zones for research, clinical care and academic education.
Although research laboratories are found in most major buildings, the bulk of the research activity, as well as graduate education, will be on the western edge of campus with the Durham Research Center and soon-to-be-built Research Center of Excellence II. Educational activity occurs
across campus, but academic education will become more dominant along 42nd Street, where the Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education is being built. Clinical education will remain focused at the center of campus, where the hospital and outpatient clinics are located.
“We looked at our growth goals – to grow research, expand patient care and renew and expand education space – and translated it into a campus structure that facilitates doing that,” said Ron Schaefer, director of facilities, planning and construction, UNMC Facilities Management and Planning. “It’s difficult to grow in the center of campus so we’ve looked at things that could grow away from the core, yet be connected. We put support activities and parking at the periphery to accommodate clinical growth and keep traffic from getting worse. It’s a conceptual direction for growth.”
The plan outlines a clearly identifiable academic campus area from 42nd Street on the west to 38th Avenue on the east and from Emile Street and Jones Street on the south to Dewey Avenue on the north. The research area would continue to expand on two tracts of land: the southwestern edge of the campus on land currently owned by the Omaha Public Power District and on the west side of Saddle Creek Road, where UNMC owns property.
“In addition to meeting UNMC’s future needs, our planning process takes into account UNMC’s impact on mid-town Omaha, its importance to UNMC’s continued growth, and the opportunity we have to influence its development and quality of living,” said Don Leuenberger, vice chancellor for Businesses and Finance. “It is vitally important that we thoroughly engage our neighbors in the future development of UNMC’s campus, and this master plan recognizes that need.”
UNMC has undergone significant growth and construction since the Board of Regents approved the 1999 Campus Physical Master Plan. Currently, plans are underway to build a second Research Center of Excellence, adjacent to the Durham Research Center, which opened in 2003; complete the Sorrell Center as the new home to the College of Medicine; renovate Poynter Hall for patient-oriented research; and renovate Bennett Hall to consolidate the faculty of the School of Allied Health Professions.
In addition, the 2006-2015 Facilities Development Plan proposes construction that would yield:
- A UNMC Comprehensive Cancer Center building in the near term; followed by an additional research tower. UNMC leaders say, with the additional laboratory space equivalent to two Durham Research Centers, a campus projection of $200 million per year and beyond in research funding is attainable.
- Renovated lab space in such older buildings as Wittson Hall, Swanson Hall, the College of Pharmacy and the Eppley Science Hall.
- Additional outpatient clinical offices on UNMC property along 42nd Street and Leavenworth Street, including a new UNMC Geriatric Center at 38th Avenue and Leavenworth Street, where Annex IV stands.
- Plans for a facility to house the new College of Public Health, north of the UNMC Student Life Center.
- An addition to the College of Nursing in Omaha to support enrollment increases, expanded research and office space. Also, the College of Nursing-Lincoln Division would move out of leased space in the Commerce Court building in downtown Lincoln to a new building on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln East Campus (adjacent to the UNMC College of Dentistry) by 2010.
- Renovation of teaching clinics at the College of Dentistry in Lincoln, as well as a building addition to increase research laboratory capacity.
- New parking structures near campus entry points to minimize increasing traffic.
- Additional green space and pedestrian pathways, as well as signatures features including an outdoor ice rink.
- An addition to the fitness facility to enlarge the fitness center and provide a student-requested indoor swimming pool.
The plan also addresses the flow of traffic, which has become a growing concern. A recent campus study indicated there are about 76,000 vehicles per day through the medical center campus, of which only about 45,000 are bound for the medical center.
As a result of that study, 42nd Street is being converted to a three-lane section to calm traffic and permit left turns at Leavenworth Streets. Results are expected within a year on a feasibility study to determine whether to relocate Saddle Creek Road. The study also will investigate changes to the Saddle Creek Road and Dodge Street intersection. The study, done jointly by UNMC and the City of Omaha, will address the possibility of relocating Saddle Creek to the west to improve campus access and divert pass through traffic, enlarge the contiguous campus area and stimulate campus area redevelopment.