Five urologists will no longer serve ER at UMC

Wednesday, June 5, 2002 | 9:36 a.m.

Adding to the ongoing medical liability crisis in Southern Nevada, five Las Vegas urologists who serve the University Medical Center's emergency room said Tuesday they will no longer cover the hospital.

The specialists cited the ongoing medical liability crisis as the reason for their decision.

The physicians who say they can no longer cover the medical center's emergency room and trauma center include Robert McBeath, Mark Leo, H. Tamiko Housley and Jason Zommack.

Another local specialist, Dr. David Larsen, asked to be removed from on-call status as of May 20.

McBeath, Leo, Housley and Zommick have provided coverage for the medical center for the past eight years as Urology Specialists of Nevada.

"This was a very difficult decision for us to make," they wrote to medical center officials on Friday.

"However, the medical liability climate has changed dramatically over the last several years, with our personal liability exposure increasing to unsustainable levels," the physicians wrote.

The urologists support a reform package like the one proposed by the Nevada Medical Liability Physicians Task Force.

The task force is recommending a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages, similar to the one that the medical center itself is protected under through the state's sovereign immunity cap.

"It is our hope that our elected officials will act swiftly, preferably in a special legislative session, to correct this enormous personal liability exposure of physicians," they said.