Med school disappointed with lack of contributors

An attempt by the University of Nevada School of Medicine to move into a swanky upscale neighborhood has left it jilted, scrambling to find new friends with deep pockets.

The school's future education and patient-care center is located on 10 acres off North Tenaya Way near West Cheyenne Avenue and U.S. 95. Its next-door neighbors -- Sierra Health Services Inc. and MountainView Hospital -- are multimillion dollar corporations.

Unfortunately, neither one seems very interested or in a hurry to contribute to the school's lack-of-building funds dilemma. Dean Robert Daugherty says $15 million is needed to build the 60,000 square-foot facility.

Jenny DesVaux Oakes, a spokeswoman for Sierra Health Services, said her health maintenance organization has not made a commitment to contributing toward the new center.

But the HMO will, she said, continue to work with the university's physician residency program by providing opportunities for students to work with their health care professionals.

Last month, Sierra Health Services announced plans to buy the Kaiser Permanente health operation in Dallas. The HMO agreed to pay $51.5 million for the assets, $7.5 million for a 159-physician medical group and $70 million for eight medical and office buildings.

Mark Howard, chief executive officer of MountainView Hospital, which is owned by the Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp, said it may donate something next year. He wasn't specific on the amount, but he said it would probably be done over a five-year period.

Meanwhile, Clark County's University Medical Center, where the medical school maintains its Southern Nevada physician residency program, is singing the AT&T jingle -- "Please come back."

"Whatever they want to do, we would like to improve the facilities here to accommodate the school," Erin Kenny, chairwoman of the UMC board of trustees, said. "We value the medical school. We'll work with them, if they need more room."

Bill Hale, chief executive officer of UMC, is fearful that when the medical school relocates its residency program to the new center, many of the 50 teaching physicians will move their offices there.

They, in turn, might refer their paying patients to nearby MountainView Hospital, Hale said. He fears UMC would only be left with non-paying indigent patients.

Daugherty, however, said the medical school is only trying to expand its involvement in the community. He has no intentions of reducing the school's involvement at UMC.

So far, only a little more than $7 million has been donated toward the building project. Jim Rogers of the Sunbelt Broadcasting Co. gave $2 million.

"There's people in Vegas who have been financially successful," Rogers said. "I'm not only very disappointed, but I have been shocked."

Rogers was especially disappointed that Sierra Health Services and MountainView hadn't given any money.

"I think it's a crying shame," Rogers said. "I give. But I get tired of being the Lone Ranger all the time."

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