Children’s Nebraska reports $232.9 million in 2024 community benefits; new behavioral health center is over capacity in first month

Children’s Nebraska told the Douglas County Board of Health on Feb. 18 that it recorded $232,900,000 in community benefit expenses for 2024 — about 33.9% of its operating costs — and is rapidly scaling services after unexpectedly high demand at its new Behavioral Health and Wellness Center.

Jen Benson, manager of community benefit and engagement at Children’s Nebraska, said the system divides community benefit reporting into broader community health (about $139 million, roughly 60% of the total and reported under Form 990 Schedule H categories) and uncompensated care (about $93.5 million, roughly 40%). “In 2024, Children’s had $232,900,000 in community benefit expenses overall,” Benson said.

The presentation outlined several community programs. Benson highlighted the Vision Mobile, operating since 2018, which she said has completed about 10,000 vision exams and provided more than 6,300 free pairs of glasses to children in Omaha‑area schools. She also described the Creighton Child Safety Center, which opened in November 2025 and focuses on safe sleep, safe home and safe travel in North Omaha.

Holly Dingman, director of community health and advocacy, described the system’s three‑year implementation strategy plan (ISP) — adopted by the Children’s board in May — which targets increased access to care, social drivers of health and pediatric mental health and wellness. Dingman said a virtual school health pilot launched in August is serving three rural districts and can test students for strep, influenza A/B and COVID at point of care; Children’s is recruiting both rural and urban districts to expand the pilot.

The most immediate operational challenge discussed was the system’s new Behavioral Health and Wellness Center. Dingman and Megan Connolly, vice president of ambulatory services and community outreach, said the center opened Jan. 7 and saw substantially more patients than anticipated in its first month. Connolly said the crisis assessment center saw about 364 patients in January, with roughly 120 cared for in the inpatient unit — activity she described as “200 percent higher than we anticipated.” She said patients have come from about 112 communities across Nebraska and Iowa.

“We are ready to take more patients,” Connolly told the board, describing a rapid ramp from phase 1 to phase 2. The center opened phase 1 with 24 inpatient beds; Connolly said Children’s is already hiring and training staff to bring the facility to its planned 40‑bed capacity once phase‑2 personnel are in place. She said Children’s received about 700 applications from 22 states and hired roughly 186 staff overall; a presentation photo showed 162 team members directly assigned to the center while additional ancillary staff support care.

Board members pressed on age mix, consent and payor mix. Connolly said the center is seeing more school‑age and younger children than expected and has adjusted supplies and programming to meet those needs. On consent for minors, Connolly said she would confirm the center’s process and return with specifics. She also gave a January payor breakdown: about 63% of crisis‑assessment visits were covered by Medicaid and about 54% of admitted inpatients were Medicaid‑covered; the remainder were privately insured.

Board members asked Children’s to provide ZIP‑code breakdowns of patients for Douglas County in a future report; Children’s agreed to provide ZIP‑level data at its next update. Several board members asked that Children’s continue tracking uncompensated care changes tied to Medicaid policy shifts.

The presentation concluded with a request that staff continue to coordinate with county health officials and community partners to broaden access and to report back on capacity and ZIP‑code data in the next quarterly update.