Dental school funding sought

Monday, April 10, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

RENO -- The 1999 Legislature authorized the start of a dental school at UNLV after being told the state would not have to put up any money.

But UNLV President Carol Harter served notice Friday that she will ask the 2001 Legislature for up to $11.4 million to begin the school, which has not yet started accepting students.

That didn't set well with two regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada, who said Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, who put together the financing of the dental school, had initially said it would not need any state general fund money.

"We were led to believe by Sen. Rawson that it would not use any general fund," Regent Tom Kirkpatrick of Las Vegas said.

"Rawson told us he would not come back for money," Regent David Phillips of Las Vegas agreed. "He's got to make good on his promise."

But Harter said there is not one public school in the nation that runs a dental school without state support. She said the Nevada school would be one of the "least reliant" on state money.

She added she will not accept students into the school until she's sure about its financing.

Rawson said there was a "misunderstanding" by those who thought the school would not need any state money. State funds won't be needed for a building, Rawson said, and "nothing has changed on that."

"We expected they (the Legislature) would pick up the state portion in the program," he said, referring to per-student support. "They ought to be funded by formula just like any other student."

While Rawson conceded he never talked about state money, it was always implied that the state would pay its part.

"I never intended in any message that they not share the responsibility for what they (the Legislature) normally pay," he said.

The regents asked that Rawson be invited to appear before the board in May or June to explain why state money is now being sought.

The plan approved by the Legislature called for dentists to be hired and then sign a contract with the Culinary Union in Southern Nevada to treat some of their members. The dental school would also contract with the state to treat Medicaid patients.

That would produce start-up money for the school, according to that plan.

Harter said six dentists have been hired and are now caring for 3,000 Culinary Union members and their dependents, and more should be enrolled in the program this summer. The school has started to turn a profit of $150,000 a month.

The contract to treat Medicaid patients is near final agreement, Harter and Rawson said. It would mean that 30,000 children would be assigned to be treated by dental school employees, which should produce $4 million to $5 million a year, Rawson said.

"By the time of the next Legislature, we should have 40,000 kids covered by the (dental) school" not including Culinary Union family members, Rawson said.

"We're right on target," he said.

Rawson also said the dental school, which hasn't started yet, may be expanded from a projected 35 students to 50 per year. UNLV officials, he said, "have come to realize they need a bigger school."

During the 1999 Legislature, critics questioned the financing arrangements for creating a dental school, suggesting the plan was "built on a house of cards" that could tumble at the slightest tremor.

Rawson countered that the school is sound, but "Nobody ever felt the state did not have a responsibility."