{"id":58376,"date":"2017-03-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2017\/03\/31\/heiser-name-lives-on-in-fitness-facility\/"},"modified":"2022-09-02T20:45:04","modified_gmt":"2022-09-03T01:45:04","slug":"heiser-name-lives-on-in-fitness-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2017\/03\/31\/heiser-name-lives-on-in-fitness-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"Heiser name lives on in fitness facility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nick Heiser, M.D., assistant professor of anesthesiology and 2008 UNMC graduate, remembers that his family was always active. Hiking, biking, sports were just what the Heisers did.<\/p>\n

But among Nick’s favorite memories was watching his father drive up after work for early-evening pick-up basketball games in the driveway. His father, also a physician, would get straight out of his car to shoot hoops with the kids in his shirtsleeves. They loved it.<\/p>\n

Their father, Tom Heiser, M.D., is a respected orthopedist and former surgeon. For many years, he served as a team physician for the University of Nebraska and assisted many Lincoln high school athletic programs.<\/p>\n

He was a high school football hero in Columbus, Neb., and went on to play for the Cornhuskers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was an academic All-American.<\/p>\n

Tom then enrolled in the College of Medicine at UNMC, eventually earning his M.D. degree in 1979. He was ahead of his time in pursuing a fitness program as part of helping deal with the rigorous demands of medical school.<\/p>\n

"My father had a true commitment to fitness," Nick said.<\/p>\n

Tom went on to practice at Nebraska Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine in Lincoln, where he has worked since it opened in 1987.<\/p>\n

In 1990, he suffered a spinal cord injury while surfing in Hawaii and was paralyzed. Nick believes it was his father’s level of fitness that allowed him to survive the accident.<\/p>\n

"Had he not lived such an active life, he simply wouldn’t have gotten through rehabilitation and recovery," Nick said.<\/p>\n

Though he can no longer perform surgery, Tom continues to practice, using his diagnostic knowledge and experience in managing the care of his patients.<\/p>\n

Nick and his brother, Mark, were still young kids when the accident happened. But through the years their dad became even more of a role model to them. He was still active, still fit.<\/p>\n

In fact, Tom helped create UNMC’s Center for Healthy Living, making a donation to the original building and – along with James Neff, M.D., then chairman of the UNMC Department of Orthopaedic Surgery – spearheading a campaign to help raise funds for the center.<\/p>\n

The facility opened in 1996, and its weight room was named for Tom.<\/p>\n

As a med student, Nick made friends for life on the center’s basketball court.<\/p>\n

He loved seeing his dad’s name on the wall.<\/p>\n

The Heisers are a true UNMC family. Tom’s brother, David Heiser, M.D., is a  1973 alum, as well as their father, Ervin Heiser, M.D., who was a 1943 graduate and a longtime general surgeon in Columbus, Neb.<\/p>\n

So is Nick’s uncle, Timothy Kingston, M.D., associate professor of general surgery and 1975 grad, who married Tom’s sister, Marilyn.<\/p>\n

UNMC celebrated the re-opening of the renovated and redeveloped Center for Healthy Living in October 2016.<\/p>\n

The improvements include:<\/p>\n