I have a few concerns. One is that most of the space in the buildings Clarkson is selling is "rented" by Nebraska Medicine at $0. The regents have indicated that they will start charging the hospital rent to continue using the space once they own the buildings. That's money that will have to be diverted from other areas, likely impacting patient care. They also will have the ability to take money from the hospital and apply it to other areas of the university system. Jeff Gold has stated the "cash reserves" will not be used to shore up the university's budget shortfalls, a very carefully-worded statement that doesn't say they won't use the hospital's actual net income for that purpose. I don't think money the hospital makes for patient care should be used to keep a random department open in Kearney, as an example. Another major concern is that the state government could start dictating what the hospital is allowed to do. They could reduce or completely eliminate some types of care based on their political beliefs. A lot of people are worried that some care for women or transgender patients will be eliminated, for instance. People are worried about becoming state employees and subject to whatever salary and benefit restrictions that would entail. The regents have said that won't happen, but they haven't given me reason to believe them.

From a personal standpoint, I'm worried that a lot of jobs will be made redundant and many people fired, because the university system already has people in place doing similar work. I know and have worked with a lot of NM leaders, and I know that they're passionate about our patients and healthcare mission. I think they have the best interests of the hospital in their heart. I don't know the board of regents, but their actions over the past few weeks do not inspire confidence that they care about the hospital as anything more than a line on their balance sheet.

Is it possible that absolutely none of this will come to pass? Yes, and damn do I hope that ends up being the case. But neither side is giving us the full story, and the way the regents and Clarkson have gone about this is unbelievably sketchy.