LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – Nebraska Medicine filed a lawsuit Friday, seeking to block the University of Nebraska Board of Regents from purchasing Clarkson Regional Health Services’ stake.

The lawsuit filed in Douglas County District Court challenges the board’s plan to pay Clarkson $500 million for its stake in Nebraska Medicine and purchase Clarkson-owned real estate for $300 million.

Nebraska Medicine has asked the court for a jury trial and a temporary restraining order or injunction to pause the deal.

The Board of Regents and Clarkson announced the deal publicly Jan. 2, with a targeted closing before June 30, 2026.

The University has not disclosed complete financing details for the transaction, citing a need to raise funds through bond sales and state appropriations.

Nebraska Medicine argues the transactions violate a 2016 joint operating agreement that requires mutual consent from all parties, including Nebraska Medicine itself, to terminate the partnership.

The Board of Regents released this statement:

“We are saddened and puzzled by this unnecessary action. The Board of Regents has stated multiple times, including several times in the recent public board meeting, that we have a sincere desire to work in a collaborative fashion with Nebraska Medicine to grow and strengthen health care. The Board of Regents unanimously approved this transaction, and following that vote we moved immediately to once again extend a warm and personal offer to meet and forge ahead together to build a collegial working relationship consistent with Nebraska values.”    

You can attribute this to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents 

The agreement established Nebraska Medicine as an independent, private nonprofit with equal membership from the University of Nebraska and Clarkson.

University of Nebraska President Jeffrey Gold previously stated the deal would help the financially troubled university manage its budget, telling the Nebraska Examiner that “some of the revenue streams provided by Nebraska Medicine could help keep NU tuition more affordable than it might be otherwise.”

Nebraska Medicine said the Board of Regents has already violated its duties as a member by refusing to approve board seat nominations and withholding cooperation on routine governance matters since May 2025, effectively pressuring Nebraska Medicine to accept the deal.

“Nebraska Medicine’s continued success is critically important for the state’s workforce and the patients who rely on the serious medicine and extraordinary care delivered by Nebraska Medicine’s physicians and staff,” the complaint stated.

Nebraska Medicine also claims the $300 million for the property far exceeds the fair market value and the $500 million for Clarkson’s membership interest is “highly overvalued.”

“The University intends to charge Nebraska Medicine, through its subsidiary The Nebraska Medical Center, additional rent, although there is no rent currently paid,” the complaint reads.

The lawsuit also argues that even if Clarkson properly withdraws as a member, the University would violate lease terms by preventing Nebraska Medicine’s subsidiary from exercising its contractual right to purchase the Clarkson-owned property.

At its rescheduled meeting Thursday, the Nebraska Board of Regents unanimously approved the proposal.

Thirty-two state senators sent a letter asking the board to delay the vote. Current and former officials with Nebraska Medicine also pushed back on the proposal, calling it a “state takeover.”

In an open letter, three former CEOs claim the current structure allows for Nebraska Medicine to establish guardrails around major changes. But NU President Dr. Jeffrey Gold maintained that care will expand and improve if the deal went through, likening the agreement to “an amicable divorce.”

On Thursday, Dr. Beau Konigsberg, an orthopedic surgeon at UNMC, expressed concerns about patient care.

“When decisions about healthcare compete with other priorities, patients ultimately bear the burden,” Konigsberg said. “We risk losing the ability to recruit and retain physicians, invest in technology and services, and respond to urgent and emerging needs.”

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Recent achievements for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln community were earned by Simanti Banerjee, Joan Barnes, Maathir Basi, Edgar Cahoon, Ozan Ciftci, Abner Sanchez Dominguez, Kristen Hoerl, Dane Kiambi, Ciara Ousley, Ali Shull, Jordan Soliz and Colleen Warner.

Honors

Edgar Cahoon, George Holmes Professor of biochemistry and director of the university’s Center for Plant Science Innovation, received the 2026 Supelco American Oil Chemists’ Society Research Award for outstanding original research on fats, oils, lipid chemistry or biochemistry published in highly cited journals, books and papers. 

Ozan Ciftci, Kenneth E. Morrison Distinguished Professor of Food Engineering, received the 2026 Timothy L. Mounts Award from the American Oil Chemists’ Society for significant contributions to the science and technology of edible fats and oils or derivatives in food products. 

Abner Sanchez Dominguez and Maathir Basi, undergraduate students in biological sciences and microbiology, and psychology, respectively, received presentation awards at the 2025 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists in San Antonio, Texas. The conference is the American Society for Microbiology’s national conference, supporting multidisciplinary science and workforce development for scientists of all career stages, including undergraduate students. Eleven Huskers presented research, and the group was led by Marianna Burks, assistant professor of practice in the School of Biological Sciences.

Ciara Ousley, assistant professor of special education and communication disorders, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Early Career Research Award from the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities. The award recognizes early career researchers who demonstrate exceptional promise in research related to students with autism, intellectual disability and other developmental disabilities at the early stages of their careers, and who have completed their doctoral work within the past six years. Ousley’s research focus has included supporting the social communication skills of young children with autism and other developmental disabilities who have limited to no vocal speech, including those who use augmentative and alternative communication.

Ali Shull, a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Psychology, was named a Graduate Scholar by the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska. The program awards one-year fellowships worth up to $25,000 to a maximum of four NU doctoral students every year. Shull is researching how exposure to parenting content on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram affects parental stress and confidence. She has recruited parents to watch popular parenting videos while wearing heart rate monitors, measuring their biological response to those videos compared to arts and crafts content. Surveys will inquire about parenting skills and whether they compare themselves negatively to parenting influencers.

Jordan Soliz, professor of communication studies and Leland J. and Dorothy H. Olson Chair in Arts and Sciences, and Colleen Warner, 2011 doctoral graduate, received the Dawn O. Braithwaite Distinguished Book Award from the National Communication Association’s Family Communication Division for their volume, “Navigating Relationships in the Modern Family: Communication, Identity and Difference” (Peter Lang, 2020). The book was recognized at the association’s annual meeting in Denver in November.

Appointments

Joan Barnes was selected to serve a two-year term on the Association of Research Libraries Communications Working Group. The purpose of the group is to advise the association’s communications staff on its member-facing communication strategy, helping to ensure programmatic visibility through a variety of channels.

Publications

Simanti Banerjee, professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, served as an editor of the recently published 50th anniversary commemorative issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, which is the official journal of the Western Agricultural Economics Association.

Kristen Hoerl, associate professor of communication studies, recently published a book, “The Impossible Woman: Television, Feminism and the Future,” with Rutgers University Press. “The Impossible Woman” examines a variety of scripted television series across multiple genres to show how the cultural value of television’s extraordinarily talented female characters often rests upon their ability to endure — but not overcome — sexism. Hoerl argues that these series contribute to sexist realism, or the cultural assumption that there is no alternative to patriarchy. Situating impossible women’s struggles in the context of contemporary feminist politics, Hoerl explains how the problems facing television’s strongest women illustrate mainstream feminism’s paradoxical dependence on cultural misogyny, neoliberal individualism and racism.

Dane Kiambi, associate professor of advertising and public relations, recently published “Public Address in Africa: An Analysis of Great Speeches by African Personalities” with Peter Lang Publishers. The book offers a comprehensive analysis of speeches that trace Africa’s political and socio-economic evolution over the past 65 years. From Patrice Lumumba’s call to end oppression in Africa to Nana Akufo-Addo’s critique of economic disparities with the West, this anthology spans pivotal moments. Each speech is analyzed and contextualized, highlighting themes of colonialism, liberation, unity and self-reliance.