Planners approve hospital

Angela Soo

Thursday, July 26, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

The North Las Vegas Planning Commission on Wednesday night approved a special use permit to build a new hospital on 39 acres of the Craig Ranch Golf Course site.

Universal Health Services of Delaware will build the hospital on the site at the northwest corner of Craig Road and Commerce Street, where neighbors successfully fought against construction of a Station Casinos hotel about three months ago.

"I think the commissioners were much more in tune to what the residents in the area need and did a better job in addressing our concerns," Gail Tominac, a resident, said.

The 180-bed hospital is planned as a full service medical facility and will include a trauma/emergency center and women's facility for labor delivery. Also included in the plans were medical office buildings and a helicopter pad on the northern part of the property.

Universal Health Services also owns Valley Hospital Medical Center, Desert Springs and Summerlin hospitals.

Preston Howard, the attorney representing the company, said construction will take about 2 1/2 years and could start in six to eight months.

North Las Vegas currently has one full-service medical facility, Lake Mead Hospital, to care for a city of more than 120,000.

Ground was broken this month for a second hospital. The 120-bed facility will be built on a 13-acre site at Tropical Parkway and Losee Road in the northwestern part of town. Construction is slated to begin in August and is expected to take about 18 months.