University of Nebraska Medical Center plans eye institute

Omaha, NE

-A major gift from an Omaha, NE, ophthalmologist will help fund construction of an eye institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). The new facility will be named for its benefactor, Stanley Truhlsen, MD.

Plans for the institute include outpatient eye-exam facilities for all ophthalmic subspecialties, a children’s eye care center, clinical research facilities, and a regional diagnostic center expected to offer services, such as high-resolution laser and ultrasound imaging currently not available in the region.

“The eye institute will position UNMC to become a world leader in clinical care, research, and education,” said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, MD. The number of academic clinical faculty members in the discipline at the medical center will double over the next 10 years, according to Thomas Hejkal, MD, PhD, professor and interim chairman of the UNMC Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.

Construction of the institute is slated to begin in 2011, with completion tentatively set for 2012. The total cost of the project is expected to be $30 million.

Construction will occur in two phases. A 47,000-square-foot-building housing clinical services, clinical research facilities, diagnostic services, and educational facilities will be built first, and a surgical wing will be added later.