Flatwater Explains: What is Nebraska Medicine — and how is it different from UNMC? – Flatwater Free Press

The University of Nebraska’s plan to fully acquire Nebraska Medicine, announced in January, and the ensuing opposition among some Omaha doctors kicked off a wave of headlines.

Through it all, Flatwater readers asked a simple question: What is Nebraska Medicine and how is it different from the University of Nebraska Medical Center?

The origins

What is now called Nebraska Medicine was formed in 1997 when Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hospital and University Hospital merged and created the Nebraska Health System. In 2003, its name changed to the Nebraska Medical Center.

In 2016, Nebraska Medicine was officially established as a nonprofit with shared 50-50 ownership between the University of Nebraska and Clarkson Regional Health Services. The agreement also unified three previously separate organizations — the Nebraska Medical Center, Bellevue Medical Center and UNMC Physicians — under the Nebraska Medicine name and logo.

Nebraska Medicine currently operates two hospitals, Nebraska Medical Center and Bellevue Medical Center, both in the Omaha metro area. Combined, the hospitals have more than 800 licensed beds. Nebraska Medicine has more than 9,000 employees, including more than 1,400 physicians.

Though their names are often used interchangeably, Nebraska Medicine and UNMC are two distinct organizations. Nebraska Medicine operates the hospital and handles the majority of patient care. UNMC is the NU System’s medical university.

UNMC and Nebraska Medicine are “tied at the hip” and work closely together in a “vital” partnership, said Dr. H. Dele Davies, interim chancellor of UNMC. Many physicians are employed by both organizations.

“As people go in and out of … our facilities, they can’t actually tell where UNMC begins and where Nebraska Medicine ends. And so, yes, we’re going to continue to work together,” Davies said.

Nebraska Medicine is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization governed by a separate board of directors appointed by the university’s Board of Regents and Clarkson Regional.

Though sometimes confused for each other, Clarkson Regional Health Services is a separate entity from Clarkson College, a private college with undergraduate and graduate nursing programs also located in Omaha. Clarkson College works in partnership with both Nebraska Medicine and UNMC.

What’s happening now?

In 2024, Clarkson Regional Health Services approached the university, wanting to sell its share and exit Nebraska Medicine. That started more than a year of confidential negotiations.

The university’s Board of Regents unanimously approved an agreement in January 2026 to buy out Clarkson Regional’s half of Nebraska Medicine for $500 million, and to purchase some of Clarkson’s real estate for an additional $300 million. 

As part of that deal, Clarkson Regional has said it will make a $200 million donation to UNMC’s Project Health, a $2.19 billion health care center slated for the Omaha campus.

Though it will be under the university’s full ownership, Nebraska Medicine will continue to be a separate 501(c)(3), said Paul Kenney, chairman of the university’s Board of Regents. The partnership between UNMC and Nebraska Medicine will be the same as always, he said.

Nebraska Medicine will also continue to have a separate board of directors appointed by the University of Nebraska, Davies said. Its finances will also continue to be managed separately, and the status of employees of one or both organizations won’t change.

UNMC and Nebraska Medicine will continue to work together as they have before the deal. The day-to-day operations will continue, and patients will see no changes to their care, Davies said.