Mayor cites need for medical center

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2002 | 9:48 a.m.

Tom Wiesner, a member of the Board of Regents, could be resting in a local hospital with his family as he receives treatment for a deadly form of leukemia.

Instead, he is in Seattle seeking help.

Former Nevada Power Co. President Steve Rigazio could have been diagnosed as soon as he began feeling ill. Instead, he had to wait nine months before a Texas doctor diagnosed him as having Lou Gehrig's disease. Rigazio died in December.

And Elias Ghanem, known as the doctor to the stars and former chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, may have been able to avoid traveling around the world in search of a cure for cancer.

Rigazio and Ghanem, who died last year, and Wiesner, whose wife is living out of a Seattle hotel, could have remained in Nevada, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman says, if the city -- like others its size -- had an academic medical center in which the world's best doctors practice, complex diseases are treated and transplants are performed.

The three men's families, who attended Goodman's 2002 State of the City Address Monday, were acknowledged by the mayor as "living examples" regarding the need for an academic medical center in Las Vegas.

Goodman hopes to plant the seeds of development for an academic medical center as part of 61 acres the city owns west of downtown. The city is nearing the end of negotiations with Southwest Sports Group for development of the parcel, which the council has said must include an academic medical center.

"The time has come to take the city to the next level, as a sophisticated city," he said.

Talk of an academic medical center was a prominent theme in Goodman's nearly 30-minute speech, which also touched on the events of Sept. 11 and the need to strengthen the economy by seeking additional revenue through a proposed Internet venture and the Legislature.

University of Nevada, Las Vegas President Carol Harter said the speech validated goals that for years have been in the sights of officials for the college and University of Nevada Medical School.

"This has been a dream that we all very much share," she said.

Admitting it is a costly venture, Harter said university officials are meeting with the private sector and members of the public in an attempt to fund an academic medical center and next year will likely go to the Legislature and federal government to seek financial help.

The first phase, she estimated, could cost about $250 million.

Harter joined other high-profile officials -- including Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera and North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon -- in attending Goodman's speech at the Charleston Heights Arts Center.

Goodman said before Sept. 11 the city has garnered excess revenues and, with that, the ability to fund new projects. But that has changed.

In light of the recession and the fact that thousands of Las Vegans are out of work, Goodman thanked residents for their generosity toward victims of the terrorist attacks and said he was confident the economy would rebound.

Goodman said the city must continue to operate efficiently and said consolidation must be explored. Government entities in the Las Vegas Valley should examine the topic together, he said, "with an eye toward efficiency and fiscal benefit to tax-paying citizens."

Basic city needs, such as public safety, social services and government efficiency were more prominent in the speech than in previous years, when Goodman has touted his dreams for downtown.

And though Goodman said he has made strides in helping the homeless through the creation of a nonprofit corporation to distribute donated money to various agencies, he admitted that he can't get past the fact that men and women are living on Main Street and continue to refuse help.

In recent weeks the homeless population that has set up camp across the street from MASH Village has grown to number in the dozens, creating a situation that has frustrated shelter officials.

Ruth Bruland, executive director for MASH Village, said the mayor wants to solve the homeless problem this year.

Bruland and Goodman, as well as other public officials and representatives of charitable organizations, are searching for solutions. And though a segment of the homeless population will continue to resist services, she said the situation can be made more manageable and the homeless can be treated more humanely, she said.

"When you see someone on the sidewalk you may think they have no hope in the world, but you just never know," she said. "That part of the population is the hardest in terms of having to get them into a continuum of care. But I think it's possible."

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