Nebraska Comprehensive Transplant Alliance
Demonstrating How Transplant Care Drives Economic Growth, Innovation, and Healthier Communities
The Challenge
The Nebraska Comprehensive Transplant Alliance, a strategic partnership between the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Nebraska Medicine, the University of Nebraska Foundation, organ donation organizations, and regional stakeholders, has grown into one of the nation's premier transplant programs. As the Alliance continued to expand its clinical, research, and educational missions, leadership recognized the need to quantify its broader value beyond patient care.
How We Helped
Tripp Umbach partnered with UNMC and Nebraska Medicine to conduct an independent economic impact analysis of the Nebraska Comprehensive Transplant Alliance. Using IMPLAN economic modeling and extensive financial, operational, workforce, research, education, and visitor data, our team measured the Alliance's direct, indirect, and induced economic contributions across Nebraska during Fiscal Year 2025.
Rather than focusing solely on clinical operations, the study evaluated the full transplant ecosystem, including patient care, biomedical research, graduate medical education, workforce development, and visitor spending generated by patients and caregivers traveling to Omaha for specialized transplant services. Tripp Umbach also quantified the long-term economic contributions of physician training, examined the cumulative impact of the transplant program since its founding in 1970, and documented the societal value created through life-saving transplant care and improved patient outcomes.
The Impact
The study found that the Nebraska Comprehensive Transplant Alliance generated $360.3 million in annual economic impact, supported 2,013 jobs, and produced $13.7 million in state and local tax revenue in FY25. Beyond its economic contributions, the analysis demonstrated the Alliance's broader value as a driver of research, workforce development, and advanced patient care. Since 1970, the program has generated more than $2.4 billion in cumulative economic impact and over $3.2 billion in societal benefits, reinforcing its role as one of Nebraska's most significant healthcare and economic assets.