Published Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010 | 9:06 a.m.
Updated Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010 | 1:30 p.m.
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Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid announced this morning a plan that includes former University Chancellor Jim Rogers to transform University Medical Center into a public-private teaching hospital.
Reid's announcement will transform UMC into a "top-flight teaching hospital," he said. Rogers will lead an effort to look at successful models around the country that will include members of the education and medical communities, and the private sector.
“No one in the state of Nevada has a greater passion for education than Jim Rogers,” Reid said in a statement. “He is also a tenacious advocate for building our state’s health care system and creating economic opportunity. We have before us a chance to bring all of those elements together in a world-class teaching hospital. I can’t think of a better person to lead this effort, and I’m so excited that he’s stepped up as a partner.”
Reid said converting UMC to a teaching hospital has advantages, including improved quality of care, stronger fundraising capabilities and advanced medical research.
Reid last week called for Clark County to unload UMC after a string of scandals and mismanagement at the public hospital.
During a Jan. 4 news conference, he called for UMC to be turned into a nonprofit or teaching hospital or some other financially viable model, and for an examination of UMC’s quality of care.
His proposals come after a string of embarrassments at UMC dating back to January 2007.
In November, the Sun reported that private information about accident victims treated at UMC had apparently been being leaked to ambulance-chasing attorneys for months.
UMC now faces a federal lawsuit for forcing a 25-year-old pregnant woman, Roshunda Abney, to wait more than five hours without treatment Nov. 30 while going through labor in its emergency room.
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