As Madonna Rehab Hospitals holds grand opening of its new Omaha campus, controversy still swirls around new UNMC PM&R chairman's troubled past in Texas

A little over two years after breaking ground on Sept. 4, 2014, construction on Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals new $93 million campus in Omaha is now officially completed, and the hospital is ready for business.

Madonna's grand opening celebration on Thursday kicked off with
only one glitch on Thursday: How will they address UNMC
founding PM&R chairman Dr. Samuel Bierner's (seen on
the left) scandalous past?

So hospital officials hosted a private grand opening event and ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday for the Omaha metro area's first and only hospital dedicated entirely to rehab care at its newest location across from the Village Pointe Shopping Center at 17500 Burke Street, located just south of 175th and Dodge.

Self-guided tours were provided to former patients, Madonna staff, and state and local dignitaries who attended the grand opening event on Thursday morning.

Just before the ground breaking on the new facilities in 2014, Madonna Rehabilitation Specialty Hospital opened a 32-bed unit on the fourth floor of Nebraska Medicine-Bellevue to address the acute inpatient rehab needs of hospitalized patients with complex medical conditions who were ready to be discharged from the hospital but not quite ready to take care of themselves at home.

Madonna plans on merging the 32-bed unit at Bellevue into its new campus after the Omaha campus officially opens.

Texas Medical Board investigation about Kowalske, Bierner, Gabriel, Hudak, and Knapton by Michel Schwalbe

Nebraska Medical Center again tops list of the state's top hospitals, according to U.S. News & World Reports

The Nebraska Medical Center again tops the state's top hospitals, according to U.S. News & World Reports

The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) at Omaha has again been named the top-ranked hospital in the state by the U.S. News & World Report survey.

UNMC also received high ratings in eight medical specialties:

• cancer
• gastroenterology and GI surgery
• geriatrics
• gynecology
• nephrology
• neurology and neurosurgery 
• pulmonology
• urology

“To again be named the best hospital in the state is a testament to the people who work for this organization and their continued dedication and passion,” said Dr. Dan DeBehenke, of Nebraska Medicine, in a press release.