Medical school budget hike OK'd

Clark County commissioners voted Tuesday to increase the county's financial support of the University of Nevada School of Medicine by $1 million.

The commissioners, acting as the University Medical Center Board of Trustees, unanimously approved the $8.6 million budget for fiscal year 1999-2000. This represents a 13.2 percent increase, or a $1 million rise over the fiscal year 1997-98 budget of $7.6 million.

"It's a significant increase, which allows us to further develop the quality of our programs," said Dr. David Schapira, senior associate dean of the school. "We have a good collaborative relationship with UMC and Sunrise Hospital."

Besides the county's financial commitment, Schapira said Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center gave the school $1 million to develop faculty and residency programs.

The Pediatric Department will receive an increase for facility and resident physicians of $440,991.

William Hale, chief executive officer of the hospital, said the Pediatric Department received nearly half the budget increase and the Internal Medicine Department approximately the other half. Eleven pediatric residents will now make up the Pediatric Resident Program.

"The quality of physicians and residents has improved," Schapira said of the current Las Vegas campus. There are 60 physicians on staff at the school and 105 residents in the various departments.

The additional money will enable the school to further develop its centers of excellence, he said. These include surgical oncology; pediatrics; trauma; genetics; plastic surgery and reconstruction; neurological diseases; lung cancer screening; wound healing; sports medicine; surgery for obesity; and cardiology and cardiovascular surgery.

The county earmarked the same as it did last year for its dental department: $300,000.

Hale said this won't affect the efforts of Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, who is currently sponsoring legislation to use Medicaid dollars to fund a dental school in Southern Nevada.

The Surgery Department received an increase of $85,116 under the new budget. The Family Medicine Obstetric and Gynecology and the Psychiatric Department received an additional $37,075.

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