{"id":128821,"date":"2026-01-13T01:58:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T07:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=128821"},"modified":"2026-01-12T15:19:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T21:19:39","slug":"leaders-celebrate-25-years-of-health-care-cash-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/01\/13\/leaders-celebrate-25-years-of-health-care-cash-fund\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaders celebrate 25 years of Health Care Cash Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

State of Nebraska, University of Nebraska, UNMC and community leaders gathered in the Nebraska Capitol in Lincoln on Jan. 9 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Health Care Cash Fund, created when the state Legislature decided to use federal tobacco settlement money on efforts to improve the health of Nebraskans, including through biomedical research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amanda McGill Johnson, executive director of Nebraska Cures, emceed the event. Speaker of the Legislature Sen. John Arch and Sen. Brad von Gillern, supporters of the funding, also spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McGill Johnson thanked the late Sen. Dennis Byars for introducing the bill creating the fund in 2001 and shepherding it to passage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a strong coalition that celebrates these 25 years of comprehensive health care investments,\u201d she said. \u201cThe research that my organization champions is just one of the many beneficiaries of the Health Care Cash Fund.\u201d She pointed to the University of Nebraska, Creighton University, Boys Town and other entities the funds have supported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaker Arch noted that in 2001, there was an opportunity to use the funds in many ways, but the state elected to use the money \u201cto improve health care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI applaud the Legislature administration at that time for setting up the funds for this purpose,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of good work has gone on through the years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. von Gillern spoke about the return on investment the state has seen on the funds, noting that he had met several medical researchers who had been recruited to Nebraska with the support of these funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat’s a return on investment that is really meaningful to me, that is attracting strong people to Nebraska and making sure that they stay here, stemming the brain drain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNMC Vice Chancellor for Research Ken Bayles, PhD, called the 25-year-old decision to allocate the funds to health care research one of the most impactful decisions in the state Legislature\u2018s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were one of the few states that actually used the money in this way,” he said. “It has paid for itself multiple times in terms of the research dollars that are generated by the researchers that have been recruited to Nebraska through the support of this funding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Health Care Cash Fund strengthens Nebraska\u2019s position as a leader in biomedical research and has enabled the University of Nebraska to recruit and invest in research talent that has helped grow its research portfolio, elevate its research programs and invest in graduate students and postdocs across all four campuses. As a result, the University of Nebraska has developed internationally recognized programs focused on addressing diseases that significantly affect Nebraskans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNMC Interim Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, thanked the legislators who, 25 years ago, had the \u201cthe vision and foresight\u201d to create the Health Care Cash Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat foresight has allowed UNMC to become a world-class academic center,\u201d he said. \u201cWe’ve been able to leverage that funding to recruit elite researchers and to build cutting-edge research programs. This has been fundamental to the success that we’ve had as a research engine, as a world-class research enterprise.\u201d<\/p>\nc BuJOGfwN EyS<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Creation of the support fund has changed health care in Nebraska.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":128794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"39822,61536,31032,36040,56059,44964","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3238],"class_list":["post-128821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chancellor","topic-research","department-unmc-today-todays-headlines","department-vice-chancellor-research","author_override-john-keenan-unmc-strategic-communications"],"yoast_head":"\nLeaders celebrate 25 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