Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Another endoscopy center closed, this one in Henderson

This morning Henderson city officials suspended the business license of Gastroenterology Center of Nevada at 2610 West Horizon Ridge Parkway, citing a public health emergency and failure to allow a business license officer access to the building.

It’s the third government agency to shut down a practice owned by Dr. Dipak Desai, who’s problems are mounting in the wake of a public health crisis that started at his ambulatory surgical center, Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, located at 700 Shadow Lane, Las Vegas. There, a health investigation showed nurses were using syringes more than once on single patients, which contaminated single-dose medicine vials, and then they were using the vials for more than one patient, which passed along infection. Six patients have been diagnosed with hepatitis C because of the procedures and health officials said last week that 40,000 more must be tested.

The city of Las Vegas shuttered Endoscopy Center Friday and upheld an appeal by the clinic officials Monday. Clark County officials shuttered two other related ambulatory surgical centers Monday — Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center and Spanish Hills Surgical Center, and one of the six Gastroenterology Center of Nevada locations.

In a written statement, Henderson Councilman Steven Kirk, chairman of the Southern Nevada Health District, said the closure of the Henderson office was the result of clinic officials failing work with the city to ensure safety of residents, which is “unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.”

There is currently a criminal investigation underway into the practices at Endoscopy Center, as well as probes by the Nevada State Board of Nursing and Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners.

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