Panel explores impact of proposed UNLV medical school

By Brian Nordli

Published Monday, Sept. 29, 2014 | 9:22 a.m.

Updated Monday, Sept. 29, 2014 | 1:10 p.m.

Las Vegas’ economy is missing one crucial piece to its puzzle — a public medical school, according to panelists at a Lincy Institute forum on the economic impact of a medical school at UNLV.

UNLV, in the meantime, has taken another step in an effort to establish such a school.

Last week, the university submitted an application to begin the accreditation process for a medical school by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

In August, the Nevada System of Higher Education requested $26.7 million from the Nevada Legislature for a medical school at UNLV.

Now it’s up to Gov. Brian Sandoval and elected officials to determine if state needs a second medical school.

According to participants in a Lincy Institute Forum today about the impact of the proposed school, the need exists.

“I think money is the only barrier that I see for the whole thing,” said UNLV medical school Planning Dean Barbara Atkinson. “I see strong support from physicians, strong support from the hospital and from the university itself.”

Atkinson joined Tripp Umbach research firm President Paul Umbach, University of Central Florida Medical School founding Dean Deborah German and Brookings Institute fellow John Hudak at the forum.

The forum detailed research highlighting a significant economic impact a UNLV medical could have on Nevada.

The state is 46th among the states in medical residents per 100,000 people and ranks last or near last in nearly every category of doctors per capita, from those in family practice to pediatricians, OB/GYNs and psychiatrists.

Las Vegas is also the largest major city without a medical school and far from any other city’s school. The closest one is in Loma Linda, Calif., which is 200 miles away, while the University of Nevada School of Medicine is 400 miles away.

“The population that is hurt is not the ones that can hop on a plane to be in LA quickly,” Hudak said. “The people who are hurt are those … that don’t have these health care options. They just have whatever Las Vegas can give them, and that’s a serious problem.”

A medical school at UNLV would boost the state’s economy through research grants and by attracting new businesses, Hudak said. It would bring in millions of dollars in funding for graduate medical education programs, he said.

The expansion of the graduate medical education program, which involves residencies and fellowships, is also a necessity, Umbach said. Part of NSHE’s budget request included about $9.9 million for those positions.

Atkinson said she could envision a medical school at UNLV that would be the center of the health care community in 10 years. It would have up to five buildings and partner with University Medical Center, the Veteran Affairs Hospital and the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

The program would produce about 180 doctors and create 5,300 jobs.

While the school would need about $43 million from the state each year, a combination of research grants, hospital use and philanthropy would bring in $1.1 billion for the Las Vegas economy by 2030, according to Atkinson and a Tripp Umbach study.

“The biggest payback of all is that we should be a catalyst for better health care in this community and expanding that health sector,” Atkinson said.

German said the University of Central Florida’s medical school in Orlando started out in a similar position. In seven years, the medical school grew from a one-employee, proposed program to a

497,000-square-foot facility with 572 staff members. It graduated 91 students and has had a $491 million economic impact on the state, she said.

Brookings Mountain West Institute Executive Director Rob Lang said the question is not whether the state can afford a medical school in Las Vegas but whether it can afford not to have one.