OMAHA —University of Nebraska leaders and Nebraska Medicine officials are publicly staking out opposing positions as a high-stakes proposal to consolidate control of the state’s largest health system moves forward amid growing calls for caution from lawmakers.
Nebraska President Jeffrey Gold told University of Nebraska Medical Center faculty and staff this week that the NU Board of Regents has no plans to use Nebraska Medicine funds, state appropriations or tuition dollars to finance the proposed buyout of Clarkson Regional Health’s 50% stake in the system. Gold said the roughly $800 million transaction would be handled separately from the university’s budget through debt service, letters of credit and revenue tied to real estate that NU would acquire as part of the deal. “There will not be a single dollar of state appropriation, tuition or research funding that goes into doing this,” Gold said during a campus forum.
As the debate intensified, the Nebraska Medicine board launched an informational website aimed at rallying opposition to the proposal, arguing that increased state involvement could threaten compensation for physicians, nurses and staff and undermine the system’s independence. The public pushback coincided with a decision by the NU Board of Regents to delay a planned vote on the deal after more than 30 state lawmakers urged the board to slow down, citing concerns about transparency, financial risk and limited legislative and public review. Regents postponed the vote to allow additional time for scrutiny as the dispute over the future governance of the nonprofit health system continues to play out in public view. The regents were set to meet at 3 p.m. Friday. They will now meet at 9 a.m. next Thursday. Thirty-one state lawmakers also sent a letter Thursday urging the regents to “tap the brakes” and delay the vote.