LV hospital expansion under way

Michelle Swafford

Thursday, Dec. 11, 2003 | 11:04 a.m.

Sunrise Children's Hospital on Maryland Parkway in Las Vegas broke ground Wednesday on a $75 million renovation and expansion project that will provide much-needed pediatric beds and services.

The hospital will add 60 pediatric beds to its 175 current beds, bringing the total to 235 beds in private rooms. Expansion will take place in five phases over three years so the hospital can continue providing pediatric services during construction. The existing Women's Pavilion -- provider of maternal services -- will expand from three to five floors.

There has been a shortage of hospital beds in Nevada, which is a big problem, said Dr. James Swift, medical director for the children's hospital.

As part of the expansion, Sunrise Children's Hospital will double its pediatric intensive care unit to 26 beds, making it one of the largest in the nation, Swift said.

And the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit will increase from 45 beds to 72 beds, which will also be one of the largest in the United States, he said.

"This will be one of the pre-eminent hospitals in this country," Swift said.

He said the hospital has a higher patient volume than the national average and will rival well-known Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

Sunrise Children's Hospital offers most pediatric services including cardiology, dialysis, oncology, hematology and emergency services. New services will include bone marrow transplants and pediatric rehabilitation. A pediatric pharmacy also will be added.

"We've had a wonderful explosion in the development of clinical services at the children's hospital," Sunrise Chief Executive A. Allan Stipe said.

Nashville, Tenn.,-based HCA Inc. owns Sunrise Children's, Sunrise, MountainView and soon-to-open Southern Hills hospitals in the Las Vegas area.

"We have a lot of faith and confidence in the economy of this community," said Tom May, president of the HCA Far West Division.

HCA is prepared to come forward and support the services the community needs, he said.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., presented hospital and HCA executives with a congressional proclamation supporting the expansion.

"There was a crying need in this community and, as usual, Sunrise has answered the call in providing services that are desperately needed in this town," Berkley said.

Berkley's husband is a physician at Sunrise and she used to serve on the board of trustees for the hospital.

Pediatrics services have been a major issue in Clark County for years now. In 2001, University Medical Center proposed a 152-bed children's hospital with an expanded neonatal intensive care unit, but Sunrise officials criticized the idea of a publicly funded pediatric hospital.