Hospital dead: County Commission is blamed for defeat

Adrienne Packer and Emily Richmond

Wednesday, June 6, 2001 | 11:09 a.m.

A fierce game of politics prompted Southern Nevada voters to fumble away Clark County's chances of building an independent children's hospital, proponents infuriated with the outcome said Tuesday.

As election-night results trickled in, University Medical Center pediatricians watched their hopes of operating one of the nation's few public children's hospitals vanish.

Of the 87,574 residents who voted, about 46 percent favored an $80 million tax-neutral bond to build the hospital. About 54 percent voted against it.

Hospital supporters who gathered at Las Vegas' Golden Steer restaurant Tuesday night were stunned, but not fazed enough to lose sight of where to place the blame for the bond measure's failure.

Dr. Kenneth Misch, UMC's director of pediatric inpatient services, said Clark County commissioners doomed the project by delaying their vote and pushing the measure from November's general election to Tuesday's municipal election.

He and his colleagues also accused Sunrise Children's Hospital -- a for-profit facility -- for its stealthy but effective advertising campaign to promote its services and discredit UMC's argument for a public children's hospital.

Pediatricians' harshest words were spared for Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams. Williams, whose district includes Sunrise, is chairwoman of the Debt Management Commission that decided to place the measure on the June ballot.

"The conduct by Myrna Williams by not allowing this to proceed is utterly and completely despicable," Misch said. "She is one of the major people who has hindered the care of the children in this community.

"Anyone who values children should not vote for this woman."

Williams chose not to hold a special Debt Management Commission meeting that would have placed the bond question on November's ballot because she and her colleagues believed more feasibility studies needed to be conducted.

Considerably fewer residents turned out for Tuesday's election; neither Las Vegas nor unincorporated Clark County had other issues on the ballot. In Henderson, where the turnout was greatest, residents shot down the city's two initiatives and the children's hospital question.

Misch said polls showed such support for the 152-bed hospital -- between 70 percent and 85 percent -- that residents probably assumed it would pass. He said 62,000 people signed a petition supporting the measure; about 87,500 voted.

"Tomorrow the reaction from parents will be, 'We thought it would pass,' " Misch said. "People thought more about their pocket book than good common sense."

Commissioner Mary Kincaid also was blamed. Supporters said Sunrise Hospital hosted for Kincaid a campaign fund-raiser during her bid to retain her Clark County Commission seat last fall.

"There were a lot of politics involved," Dr. Meena Vohra, UMC's director of pediatrics. said. "If this were on the November ballot, it would never have lost, but everyone did everything in their power to make sure it didn't get on that ballot."

County commissioners were upset with the manner in which the proposal was introduced to them more than a year ago. They claim Commissioner Erin Kenny sprung the project on the board, making members look like they were opposed to children's medical care when they voted to delay it.

The board members who requested additional feasibility studies eventually were satisfied with the conclusions. But their prudence wasn't deemed necessary by UMC pediatricians.

"What new information did they have in June that they didn't have in January?" Vohra asked. "The politicians won, and they can go be happy about it. But what about the kids?"

The kids will continue to be shipped out of the state for medical care at the existing rate of about 1,900 a year, pediatricians said. And as the community grows, so will the need for more hospital beds.

Misch said UMC was at a disadvantage because it didn't have the bankroll to fund as aggressive an advertising campaign as Sunrise. But, he added, children will continue to be served well in Southern Nevada.

"Politics will say where kids are seen but the bottom line is regardless of what happens, parents and children can always count on excellent care," he said.

Sunrise officials, who laid low Tuesday night, applauded voters for making the right decision on the measure.

"Sunrise Children's Hospital is pleased that the citizens of Clark County had the opportunity to cast informed votes," Sunrise spokewoman Ann Lynch said. "UMC will continue in its traditional line of fine health care and Sunrise Children's Hospital will move forward as it has done for the last 12 years."

While the voter turnout may have been dismal Tuesday, there was no lack of enthusiasm from either supporters or opponents of the proposed children's hospital who did show up to cast their ballots.

Despite attempts by the pediatrician organization Caring for Children Coalition to raise public awareness through mailings, television commercials and billboards, attendence at most of the voting sites was sparse.

Voter Toby Clifton read newspaper articles, watched television discussions and talked with friends before she decided to support the ballot measure.

"I think it's a good idea," Clifton said after leaving the polling station at the Community Resource Center on Martin Luther King Boulevard. "There's a shortage of beds, and we're not going to be set up to handle all the new people unless we start planning now."

At the Clark County Library main branch on East Flamingo Road several voters said they had voted in favor of the ballot measure. One man pointed out that it would take anywhere from three to five years just to build the hospital and by that time more children will likely need services.

At the other end the valley most of the voters interviewed at the Green Valley Public Library polling site said they were strongly opposed to the proposal.

"I just don't believe we need it," said Vince Pillag, who along with his wife voted against the measure.

Pillag said he spoke with friends who work at Lake Mead Hospital and Sunrise Hospital about the proposal.

"They say their kids' beds are never full," Pillag said.

Many of the voters who said they opposed the ballot measure cited a nursing shortage as a deciding factor for them. It would be a mistake to build a new hospital when the valley's existing facilities are already having trouble finding enough nurses, said Mandee Bowler of Las Vegas.

"What are they going to do, build the building and then have no way to fill it?" Bowler asked. "If we can't staff the hospital it's of no use to anyone."

Bowler said she also wasn't satisfied that UMC officials would be able to lure the top specialists to the area so that ill children could be treated closer to home.