Boys Town officials gathered in Omaha on Wednesday for a ceremonial groundbreaking on a new early childhood development center, a 24,000-square-foot facility expected to combine clinical research, specialized education and family-centered support for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The event, held at the center's site on October 21, was reported by WOWT, which noted that Boys Town President and CEO Rod Kempkes and Chief Operating Officer Jason Bruce joined community leaders to celebrate the milestone. The station's report describes the planned center as a hub where clinical research, specialized education and family-centered support will come together under one roof for deaf and hard-of-hearing children and their families.
Part of a Much Larger Hospital Expansion
The new center fits within a far bigger undertaking at Boys Town. According to Boys Town, a 254,000-square-foot expansion project is meant to address an urgent and growing need at Boys Town Hospital for additional patient beds, more surgical suites and expanded research space. The organization says a unique aspect of the project's design is how it brings researchers and clinicians together, working side by side in clinics and labs.
Boys Town has said the broader expansion will allow it to conduct clinical trials for childhood illnesses right in Omaha and to research the neurological sources of addiction, anxiety and depression in teenagers. The Ryan Foundation is contributing what Boys Town describes as a transformational gift toward the creation of the Dr. Wayne L. Ryan Clinic and Research Center as part of that effort. Kempkes has framed the broader project as a commitment to innovation, collaboration and the future of pediatric care, while Jason Bruce, M.D., serves as executive vice president of healthcare and director of Boys Town Hospital.
A Preschool Built for Children With Hearing Loss
Separately, Boys Town has also broken ground on a new building at 132nd Street and West Dodge Road to house its preschool for children who are deaf or hard of hearing, with the building expected to open in spring 2028. Boys Town says the new location will remain within Omaha Public Schools' boundaries while allowing the preschool to serve children from other school districts, and that the building itself will be designed specifically for children with hearing deficits.
That preschool work connects to Boys Town's longer-running Center for Childhood Deafness, Language and Learning, which Boys Town National Research Hospital describes as internationally recognized for applied research, early education and clinical services. The center relies on a multidisciplinary team of language and learning researchers, audiologists, speech-language pathologists and deaf educators working together on behalf of young patients.
Fitting Into a Statewide Support Network
Nebraska already has infrastructure meant to catch hearing and developmental issues early. The state's Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program has developed goals covering newborn hearing screening, diagnostic evaluations, early intervention and family support, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The state's Early Development Network, meanwhile, provides early intervention services for families with children from birth to age three who have developmental delays or health care needs, per the Nebraska Early Development Network.
Boys Town's new center isn't the only early childhood project taking shape in Omaha. Completely KIDS plans to build its Henry Davis Center at 2448 St. Mary's Ave., according to the Omaha World-Herald, with a first floor dedicated to early childhood classrooms and a second floor for behavioral and mental health services. That project would add a third building to Completely KIDS' existing campus, giving Omaha families another option focused on blending early education with mental health support.
