LINCOLN- Even before the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the situation beginning in 2020, Nebraska was projecting a shortage of health care professionals, particularly in rural areas.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center has long expected a shortage of 5,435 nurses by 2025, which combined with an aging population will seriously squeeze health care options in several areas of the state. Shortages were also expected in other specialties — primary care physicians, pediatric physicians, OBGYNs, audiologists — even before COVID strained the health care system.

While the statistics are sobering, UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey Gold told the NU Board of Regents Thursday that the university has a plan to build a sustainable workforce that will be key to ensuring patients across Nebraska can see a doctor or will have adequate numbers of nurses available.

UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen said the $85 million expansion — the university will raise $35 million in private funds to build out the full project — will play a lead role in keeping rural Nebraska vibrant for years to come.

“(Health care) is the future of all these communities,” Kristensen said. “We should do things that only the university can solve. There’s no one else in the state of Nebraska who can do this.”

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