Cleveland Clinic doesn’t have the money for LV site

Judy Odierna

Wednesday, March 12, 2003 | 9:25 a.m.

Cleveland Clinic officials say they are flattered by Las Vegas' interest but any funding for a Las Vegas project will not come from the clinic.

"We are extremely flattered that the city of Las Vegas is interested in a Cleveland Clinic facility," a written statement said. "The biggest challenge is that an external source of capital would have to be secured in order to fund the project. Right now it is premature to say whether or not outside resources are available."

Last week Mayor Oscar Goodman said it would cost $500 million for the land acquisition, construction and operation of a Las Vegas facility, which Goodman is hoping will get built on 25 of the city's 61 acres downtown.

Goodman also said that the financial conditions were the clinic's biggest concerns but that he would do anything he could to get the facility to open a center in Las Vegas.

City leaders are hoping lobbyists in Washington, D.C., will be able to get $3 million from the federal government to help with initial costs for an academic medical center.

Clinic officials are in town this week to continue talks with the city and with representatives from the University of Nevada's medical school as well as tour the site again.

The Cleveland Clinic integrates clinical and hospital care with research and physician training. It is the largest employer in the Cleveland region, employing more than 26,000 people. The center also has two satellite facilities in Weston and Naples, Fla.

The clinic has also been suffering from financial setbacks due to risky moves in the stock market. A report from the New York Times suggests the clinic lost $500 million and a new chief financial officer is out shopping a $750 million debt refinancing plan that is hoped to delay $140 million in loan payments for at least seven years.