Lawmakers OK $27 million for planned UNLV medical school

By Ian Whitaker

Published Tuesday, June 2, 2015 | 10:14 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, June 2, 2015 | 4:48 p.m.

State legislators came through for a proposed UNLV medical school Monday night.

With the Assembly’s passage of Senate Bill 514 just two hours before the Legislature’s midnight close, the medical school stands to receive the full $27 million in start-up funds requested by higher education officials.

In his original budget, Gov. Brian Sandoval earmarked $8.3 million for the medical school. That would have kept progress on the school moving ahead for the next two years but prevented it from opening by its 2017 goal.

“This is the most positive message possible,” School of Medicine Dean Barbara Atkinson said. “We’ve been driving ahead, assuming things would go well, but now we know we can.”

Full funding is critical for a medical school trying to gain accreditation. Accreditation officials look for a financial commitment from states when deciding whether to award a medical school preliminary accreditation status, which allows the school to start accepting students for an inaugural class.

“This sends a huge, very positive message to the accrediting agency that the state is behind us,” Atkinson said. “And it sends a message to our donors who are supporting our research program, the buildings, the clinical programs, that the state will take care of the education costs.”

The legislative action is not the only good news the school has received in recent weeks.

A campaign to raise money for full scholarships for 60 students in the school’s inaugural class raised $5.2 million in less than a month.

The next step for Atkinson and her staff is to file paperwork for a possible visit by accreditation officials in the fall. If the accreditation committee approves the school’s preliminary status early next year, the school will be on track to begin classes by fall 2017.