Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018 | 2 a.m.
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The Nevada Board of Regents recently announced that all was well with higher education in the state. In particular, it said, the UNLV School of Medicine and UNR School of Medicine were in good health.
But the regents ignore allegations of massive Medicaid fraud against the UNR medical school when it ran a health practice plan in Las Vegas. The regents also never explained what happened to plans for a UNLV medical school building that were announced at the end of the summer.
They failed to let the public know that the plan, which called for a “medical library” in place of an actual medical school building, was so ill-conceived that an anonymous donor withdrew a $25 million gift. The proposal then had to be yanked from review by the Nevada Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee in late October.
For now, plans for UNLV’s education building appear dead in the water. Major donors have been vocal about the reasons they abandoned the project, primarily that they do not trust the chancellor and the regents to sufficiently plan and construct such a facility. Donors had confidence that former UNLV President Len Jessup could deliver a building, but he was forced out of his job in May by the chancellor. More than 18 months since the state pledged $25 million to the project and the donor match, there is little prospect that work will begin anytime soon on what is arguably the most important academic building in Nevada.
The Nevada System of Higher Education continues to centralize the state’s higher education functions under their direct management — police departments, human resources, computing systems and now even medical schools. According to a recent news release, “NSHE Medical Schools” are addressing Nevada’s health care needs.
We are not sure of the last time anyone at NSHE treated a patient, but someone should alert the Liaison Committee on Medical Education — the body that accredits all U.S. allopathic medical schools. UNLV and UNR appear to hold no value to NSHE; all tribute must accumulate to the state higher education office. Will NSHE claim to have football and basketball teams in the future?
Given NSHE’s lack of success in advancing the UNLV education building, it’s time that Gov.-elect Steve Sisolak and the Nevada Legislature take the lead.
The UNLV medical school is simply too important of an economic development and health care asset to be managed by an organization incapable of moving higher education forward.
At a forum held Dec. 7 at UNLV, the Lincy Institute proposed a legislative study to develop plans to finance and construct UNLV’s building. A committee of leading business and community leaders led by members of the Legislature and the governor’s executive team should be formed to accomplish this goal.
The highly regarded Legislative Council Bureau can assist the committee by providing technical support on budget and finance questions. We need to develop a practical medical school building plan and a creative, inclusive finance model that leverages state funds to secure federal dollars and re-engages with major donors.
Omitted are mentions of NSHE or the regents. That is not an accident. Rather, inclusion of these groups would alienate most of Southern Nevada’s major donors and require a building that is essentially all state-financed. Plus, past NSHE involvement in legislative study committees has not always gone smoothly. Former Chancellor Dan Klaich was removed from his job for falsifying documents to a 2012 study committee looking at Nevada’s higher education funding formula.
The committee must engage the staff at UNLV to work directly on the project. UNLV is its own school and not a subordinate adjunct of a state system office. We are confident that no Las Vegas-based donor would ever put a dime in an “NSHE medical school.” Donors fear that contributions to UNLV will be treated poorly by a system office that could mismanage or redirect the resource to some other project or institution.
Universities build, staff and run medical schools. Higher education administrative offices work in support and do not lead in these efforts. Universities directly receive accreditation for medical, law and all other schools.
Sisolak and our fellow colleagues in the Legislature, let’s take charge of planning the UNLV medical school. The project clearly needs a reset, and we are up to the task.
Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod is a third-generation Southern Nevadan and is a member of the Nevada State Assembly. Scott Hammond is a former public school teacher and is in his second term representing Nevada Senate District 18.
