Amil drops service deal with Sunrise

Art Nadler

Monday, Feb. 8, 1999 | 12:25 p.m.

Amil International of Nevada will no longer do business with Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center and its affiliate medical facilities after April 1, the health-care provider announced to its members last week.

The health maintenance organization will discontinue services with Sunrise Hospital, Mountain View Hospital, Sunrise Diagnostic Center and three Sunrise Health Strategies clinics and the Flamingo, Sahara and Las Vegas surgical centers.

The group, in a letter to its clients, said seven other hospitals in the area will provide medical services. They include Desert Springs Hospital, Lake Mead Hospital, Boulder City Hospital, St. Rose Dominican Hospital, Summerlin Hospital, University Medical Center and Valley Hospital.

"Amil International of Nevada has always made the commitment to its members and to Nevadans that we would offer quality care," Candis Lee Englant, a spokeswoman for the health-care provider, said. "Amil has been changing its services and products and has restructured its network, while still preserving excellence in quality of care."

Englant added that the contract negotiations between Amil and Sunrise Hospital were considered confidential and she could not discuss them.

Ann Lynch, vice president of community services with Sunrise Hospital, said the decision was a business issue and not based on quality of care. She said Amil was not a big provider of patients to the hospital.

"Not every hospital is with every insurance company," Lynch said. "As contracts come and go, they change. If Amil would like to come back to us, that would be fine."