Monday, Jan. 15, 2001 | 11:04 a.m.
Backers of a proposed university medical teaching center are quickly approaching a deadline to apply for a city-owned piece of land in downtown Las Vegas.
The teaching center is eventually hoped to rival ones like those found in Los Angeles and Houston, but the dream is still a long shot.
First, the University of Nevada School of Medicine, which is proposing the new center, must compete with 1,500 other developers who will potentially be submitting proposals on March 3 for the 61 acres of real estate that is sandwiched between the Union Pacific Railroad and Interstate 15.
The hope is that some if not all of the 61 acres available will be granted to the University and Community College System of Nevada for the new medical teaching center, medical school Dean Robert Miller said.
The center has the support of Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who says an academic center would bring in another element of diversification to the city.
"Having a prestigious center like this will elevate us to the rank of many other cities in the world," Goodman said. "This is the largest North American city without a medical center. Hopefully we'll have the opportunity to rectify that."
Even if that hurdle for land acquisition is cleared, there is still state and private funding that needs to be lined up.
The university system will be relying heavily on private philanthropy for the center's funding, since there is very little hope of getting much state money, Miller said.
The vision is to have a cancer research institute, medical school with inpatient and outpatient services, pharmacy school and dental school all on one site. There also would be office space for private practitioners.
Even if only a portion of the 61-acres goes to the center, the university system can expand the medical center as it grows because the facility will be densely built with 20-story buildings.
University representatives do not yet have a figure on the total costs for construction of the center, said Chancellor Jane Nichols, who heads the University and Community College System of Nevada.
So far, the only part of the medical teaching center that is built into this year's state budget is the $24 million in construction for the dental school. An additional $12 million in private funding will still be needed to fund that project.
Whether that money is funded by the state is still uncertain, Nichols said.
"The request for the dental school is not on our list of top priorities, and the Public Works Board did not approve it," she said.
"We're coming up with many, many projects. We need to prioritize, and every time we do this our list grows," said Regent Steve Sisolak. "Between campuses in Redfield and Henderson, I can't keep track myself. It's a lot of hungry mouths to feed."
While construction funding for the dental school ranks 19 on the list of priorities, the proposed Henderson State College, which ranks eighth, will be competing for the same pool of money.
More than likely, any state money needed to fund the medical teaching center will have to wait until 2002 when budgets will be submitted for the 2003 Legislature, Nichols said.
For now, the only money committed to the project is $1.8 million in federal funds for the medical school and $5 million from tobacco settlement money for the Cancer Institute.
Miller says the medical center is designed to complement private physician practitioners.
"We want to partner with private practices, which is why we have office spaces in the overall plan," he said, adding that the center will specialize in practices not currently available in Las Vegas, such as liver and heart transplant facilities."
Miller says Las Vegas lacks specialized medical procedures that attract prestigious doctors and adjunct industries.
"There is a real need for this center," he said. "We can't wait too long. The dental school will be starting classes in 2002 and the Cancer Institute is bursting at the seams."
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