The Center for Healthy Living
  • It was opened in 1996 to house all the student services and other departments that were ​being moved out of Conkling Hall.
  • The UNMC Bookstore is located here.
  • It features a two-story gymnasium, exercise track, weight, fitness machine room, ​racquetball court, aerobics exercise area, and locker rooms.

Prior to the 2016 renovation project.

  • A $6 million redevelopment and expansion project was completed in the fall of 2016. The renovation included:
  • A new 6,525-square-foot addition to the Student Life Center building relocated the entry of the Center for Healthy Living from the south side of ​the building to the north side, facing the Ruth and Bill Scott Student Plaza.
  • Renovating 11,845 square feet on two floors in the existing facility to provide larger strength and fitness machine areas; additional dedicated ​group fitness activity areas; permanent areas for stretching and table tennis, which is popular with international students; and larger locker ​rooms with private changing areas and showers.
  • Replacing the gymnasium's synthetic floor with a wood sports floor for user comfort and safety.
  • Installing outside bicycle lockers for UNMC personnel who want to securely store their bicycles.
  • The weight and fitness machine area was named the Thomas M. Heiser, MD, Strength, and Fitness Facility in honor of Dr. Heiser, a former ​University of Nebraska football player who graduated from UNMC and practiced orthopedic surgery in Lincoln. Dr. Heiser suffered a paralyzing ​injury while surfing in 1990.
  • In 2023, a renovation was made to the laboratory area in the building which is now called the Wellness Innovation Clinical Research Lab. The ​lab originally debuted in 1996 as the Clinical Movement Science Laboratory (CMSL), thanks to 94 donors and the Nebraska Foundation for ​Physical Therapy.
  • The new lab includes resources for bone imaging, biomechanics, and both metabolic and nutritional assessments, which will allow researchers ​to conduct innovative, team-based clinical research aimed at the primary prevention of chronic diseases, as well as secondary prevention to ​improve the quality of life in the managing these diseases.
  • Other highlights include:
    • State-of-the-art biomechanical equipment for the assessment of human movement;
    • Imaging assessment of bone and body composition (DXA/peripheral CT scanner);
    • Metabolic and cardiovascular fitness assessment (treadmill with a metabolic cart to measure oxygen consumption);
    • Biospecimen collection (dedicated space to draw blood and process biospecimens);
    • Functional assessment (gym area with space to conduct tests such as walking speed or athletic agility); and
    • Physical activity monitoring – (accelerometers and faculty expertise in activity assessment).
    • Rather than creating separate clinical research labs for individual faculty, the new lab offers shared resources – and opportunities for ​collaboration.