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A Prescription for Success

Millions of dollars in expansions and new projects have taken place or are underway at Alegent Health, Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, Methodist Health System, Charles Drew Health Center and other healthcare providers, plus construction and research at Omaha’s two university medical centers: the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and Creighton University Medical Center (CUMC).

The University of Nebraska has established the for-profit entity UNeMed Corporation to develop and foster relationships with industry that transfer UNMC intellectual property from the academic laboratory to the marketplace.

Greater Omaha also is the headquarters of more than 20 bioscience companies including medical instrumentation company Streck Laboratories.

Care provider Home Instead Senior Care, headquartered in Omaha, has 800 franchises in the U.S. and 15 foreign countries.

Alegent Health is the largest not-for-profit, faith-based healthcare system in Nebraska and southwestern Iowa with nine acute care hospitals, more than 100 sites of service, over 1,300 physicians on its medical staff and roughly 9,000 employees.

In an effort to ensure security measures concerning electronic medical records, Alegent Health is building a nearly 50,000-square-foot, $26 million data center on the campus of Alegent Health Midlands Hospital. Alegent partnered with CoSentry, a leader in the industry of managed technical services headquartered in Bellevue, to manage the data center.

Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, the only full-service, pediatric healthcare center in Nebraska, continues construction of its $55 million Specialty Pediatric Center, set to open in 2010 at 84th Street and West Dodge Road. Children’s is the primary teaching site for the family practice and joint pediatrics residency programs at CUMC and UNMC.

The region’s first women’s hospital, Methodist Women’s Hospital, is scheduled to open in 2010. The 116-bed, 289,000-square-foot facility is expected to cost $120 million. Many of Methodist Hospital’s obstetrics and gynecology services will be transferred to the new facility, which includes a 28-bed neonatal intensive care unit.

Since becoming chancellor, Harold M. Maurer, M.D., has made building UNMC’s research enterprise his top priority. For every $1 million in research funding UNMC receives, 32 new jobs are generated. UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $82 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,600 highly skilled jobs in the state.

The $76.4 million Durham Research Center II sits directly south of the original DRC. Like the DRC, the new research tower was funded primarily through philanthropic donations.

The $52.7 million Sorrell Center, the centerpiece for educational activities at UNMC, is home to the UNMC College of Medicine.

Early this year, UNMC announced that it has secured more than $11 million in direct earmarked funds from the Department of Defense, plus about $4 million more in earmarks for collaboration projects to support research projects for the fiscal year 2009.

The Creighton University School of Medicine’s research into the causes of osteoporosis in women will benefit from a $3.2 million grant awarded by the National Institutes of Health. The five-year study will include 120 postmenopausal women between the ages of 45 and 70 who have osteopenia, considered a precursor to osteoporosis.

The Nebraska Medical Center in 2008 opened its new Cancer Center in west Omaha. Situated near 180th Street and West Dodge Road, the Cancer Center offers services including medical therapies, radiology and laboratory support as well as radiation treatments.

Champion for Minority Health

a native of Haiti, Rubens J. Pamies, M.D., has traveled a long way to make his home in Omaha. Since 2003, Dr. Pamies has served as vice chancellor for academic affairs, dean for graduate studies and professor of internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Renowned for his expertise in health disparities, Dr. Pamies in February was selected as a new member and chair of the Advisory Committee on Minority Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health.

His work and that of other researchers at UNMC will have a direct benefit on patient care, particularly in areas such as cancer research, drug delivery and vaccine for some of the world’s most devastating diseases. “These research projects will greatly improve the quality of life for Nebraskans and people all over the world,” said Dr. Pamies. “In addition, what is so impressive about UNMC is the opportunity for collaboration across healthcare fields.”

Dr. Pamies’ family moved to New York when he was six. He received his baccalaureate degree from St. John’s University and his medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Prior to joining the UNMC staff, he was chairman of the department of internal medicine and The Edward S. Harkness Professor of Medicine at Meharry Medical College School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn. His achievements at UNMC include establishing the Virginia-Nebraska Alliance, a partnership with five Historically Black Colleges & Universities to address the shortage of minority healthcare professionals.

Dr. Pamies and his wife, Michelle, a senior attorney at Union Pacific, enjoy living here. “Omaha is every bit as sophisticated as any major city with all of the attractions that make family life enjoyable,” he says. “It is a big city without big-city problems.”

Like many others, Dr. Pamies says the strength of the community is its people. “Omahans are hard-working, caring individuals with wonderful Midwestern values. I have found that our city and state leaders are accessible and down-to-earth. Plus, this community has a variety of diverse, ethnic neighborhoods.”

Serving the needs of the Underserved

For four decades, OneWorld Community Health Centers, Inc. has been devoted to a noble mission—serving the healthcare needs of the underserved in Omaha, providing a “one-stop shop” for health and dental care, affordable medication and support services. “We want everyone to know there’s a place to go if you need quality healthcare, whether or not you have insurance,” said Andrea Skolkin, OneWorld’s chief executive officer.

Since its founding in the late 1970s, people speaking at least 17 different languages and representing 37 countries have been treated at the clinic. Growth over the last eight years has been especially dramatic. The nonprofit has expanded from 35 employees to 150 and from a budget of $441,000 to $13.5 million.

In 2007, the center received a visit from then-President George W. Bush, a tribute to its fiscal success and passion for its mission. Skolkin says OneWorld’s accomplishments are a direct result of that passion, a committed board, a talented staff and the hundreds of partnerships it enjoys in the community. “What we do makes a difference in the healthcare of an individual, which then goes to the family and the family’s ability to be productive and sustain themselves, which impacts the health and vitality of the community and the city.”

Taking an active role in the Health of the Community

Creighton University Medical Center (CUMC) is partnering with the Omaha business community to build a healthier and more productive workforce through its “Live Better, Work Better” effort. Through conversations with benefit counselors within Omaha companies and worksite visits, CUMC has been able to provide low- or no-cost screenings, educational seminars and health fairs, each tailored to the needs of that particular organization’s workforce.

To promote heart health, CUMC, in conjunction with the Creighton Cardiac Center launched “Call or Be Called,” a multi-dimensional media campaign. The key objective was to encourage the public to get a free heart screening. A unique viral marketing component was the creation of a Web site, CallOrBeCalled.com, that evoked classic Monty Python animation, accompanied by a deep baritone voice as “the man upstairs” encouraged a screening visit. Visitors could send an e-mail to a friend or loved one with a gentle reminder to attend a screening or send a personalized voice mail from “the big guy” doing the same.

The response was overwhelming. Within days of the campaign’s launch in March, every screening event was full.

CUMC also developed a way to help match patients with the right digestive specialist by opening the Center for Digestive Disorders (CDD). Modeled after successful chest pain centers, the CDD takes the guesswork out of what type of physician is most appropriate for a particular patient’s condition.

In July, CUMC launched FindYourPhysician.com, which personalizes academic physicians through personal biographies and warm photography. This unique site allows people to choose a doctor by specialty, gender and insurance coverage.

It’s all about giving people a greater comfort zone when selecting a physician.

Bringing care to the patient was the goal behind doubling the size of the busy Creighton Medical Associates clinic at 13th and Leavenworth streets in the Old Market neighborhood. The increased presence of Creighton’s expert physicians in the clinic will help prevent any backlog of appointments and allow downtown patients to seek a speedy appointment for treatment and return to their job quicker.

Build a Healthy Community

Omaha’s Alegent Health wants you to take a stand against rising healthcare costs by taking control of your health.

“We have the power to change the path we’re on,” said Wayne Sensor, president and CEO of Alegent Health. “We can lower healthcare costs and build a healthy community, which

I believe could be our legacy to future generations. It doesn’t have to be difficult. The kind of change I’m talking about happens one person–one family at a time.”

To help affect that change and empower people to manage their own health, Alegent Health developed an innovative, online resource: ThisIsYourHealthcare.com. The site answers a challenge thrown down by former Speaker of the House

Newt Gingrich and his Center for Health Transformation.

Gingrich founded the collaborative with the goal of “creating a 21st century ‘intelligent health system’ that saves lives and saves money for all Americans.”

In an intelligent health system, everyone has accurate, timely knowledge of their health needs; access to the best information about how to maintain their health; and knowledge of where and who to go to if they have health needs.

ThisIsYourHealthcare.com offers that very intelligence in a matter of a few keystrokes. You start by taking a “Health Smart Quiz,” which helps identify what you are doing right and where you can improve. The site then offers information on how to manage your health (including an option to make appointments online) and provides cost and quality information, giving you the power to control your healthcare dollars.

While the site can help you manage your health, it cannot force you to schedule preventative check-ups, something both Sensor and Gingrich consider critical.

“Everyone is looking for ways to tighten the family budget these days, but cutting preventive healthcare should not be an option. It can lead to catastrophic illness and financial disaster,” said Sensor.