Capacity expanding at two UHS hospitals in Las Vegas

Michelle Swafford

Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2003 | 10:50 a.m.

Universal Health Service's Valley Health System is adding beds and services to two of its Las Vegas Valley hospitals to accommodate more patients, easing the backlog at valley hospitals.

The new Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center, 5400 S. Rainbow Blvd., plans to make an additional 35 beds available in the coming weeks. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, 657 Town Center Dr., is building a new patient tower scheduled to open next summer. It will add 90 beds.

Bill Welch, president and chief executive of the Nevada Hospital Association, said hospitals in Clark County are "continuously in a catch-up mode" as strong local population growth continues.

"Outside Nevada, a facility expands and there is a gradual transition toward its full capacity," he said. "In Clark County, that time period will be significantly reduced as a result of the fact that the demand is already greater than the capacity."

He said Spring Valley and other new hospitals in the valley are building in more space than they will need initially to be prepared for the growth.

"All the hospitals (in the valley) have all gone through major renovations in the last few years," Welch said. "That's as costly or more costly than building in the space."

Spring Valley Hospital, the newest hospital to open in the Las Vegas Valley, is seeing far more patients than it anticipated in its first few months. The hospital is licensed for 170 beds in private rooms, but only needed 100 beds when it opened Oct. 2. Once the 35 beds on the third floor open in the first part of December, another 35 beds will remain in reserve on the fourth floor to meet future patient demand.

"We are expanding because the need is there," hospital spokeswoman Naomi Linardo said.

The employee count has increased from 250 people to more than 300 in the last two months, she said.

The hospital's average daily census, or number of inpatients at a given time, has been 60 people, which is double what was expected, Linardo said.

Original projections were based on other hospital openings, Chief Executive Karla Perez said.

Spring Valley's emergency room has been busy as well. The hospital has one of the larger emergency rooms in the valley with 47 bays. About 1,600 patients were treated in the emergency room during October and more than 1,200 patients have been treated in November.

The obstetrics department has also been booming. Since the 280,000-square-foot hospital opened, more than 50 babies have been delivered there, which surprised hospital staff, Linardo said.

Most females having babies make hospital arrangements about six months in advance, but several of them changed their minds about other hospitals and had their babies at Spring Valley to be closer to home, she said.

Early next year, the hospital will open a six-bed, level two neonatal intensive care unit, which will treat newborns who are born at 34 weeks or more of gestation and have some complications. A baby who is not premature is born after 40 weeks. The hospital planned for the intensive care unit, but is in the process of completing licensing requirements.

Spring Valley is not the only Valley Health System hospital to add neonatal intensive care services. In late December, Summerlin Hospital plans to open a four-bed, level three neonatal intensive care unit, which cares for newborns who are born before 34 weeks of gestation and have severe complications. The hospital plans to expand the neonatal unit to nine beds once the demand is there. Summerlin already operates a level two neonatal intensive care unit.

"Our maternal-child program has been booming," Chief Executive Leslie Paul Luke said.

The hospital averages 190 births per month, compared with 90 births per month last year, he said.

Summerlin doubled the size of its obstetrics department last fall, enabling more births there.

The hospital opened a 24-hour pharmacy for in-patients in October, which will make it easier to treat the critical babies in the neonatal unit, Luke said.

Pediatrics is another area the hospital is expanding.

"Las Vegas has been growing so rapidly we needed additional beds," Luke said.

Summerlin has 12 pediatric beds now, but will add 18 when it moves the department to its new patient tower. Of the 30, 12 will be intensive care beds.

Oncology services will be expanded from 14 beds to 30 when the $7.8 million tower opens.

Summerlin now has 199 beds, most of which are in private rooms, and about 850 employees, but that isn't always enough.

"Many times we are beyond our technically licensed beds," Luke said.

That causes the hospital to go on divert status, meaning ambulances have to take patients to other hospitals that have beds available, he said.

He said the additional beds in the tower should ease the backlog.

Summerlin is also considering expansion of its in-patient rehabilitation services. The hospital has 26 designated beds now.

Valley Health System, a subsidiary of Universal Health Services in King of Prussia, Pa., also operates sister hospitals Valley and Desert Springs in Las Vegas.

Spring Valley is the first of three hospitals planned for the southwest valley. Nashville, Tenn.,-based HCA Inc. is building Southern Hills Hospital at I-215 and the West Sunset Road exit. The 200,000-square-foot hospital will offer 106 private rooms and 24 semi-private rooms when it opens on March 1. Catholic Healthcare West, based in San Francisco, plans to build San Martin Hospital with 140 private rooms in 2006 on Warm Springs Road, between Buffalo Drive and Durango Road.

"These hospitals when they open the doors have to be geared up to be at capacity," Welch said. "That's going to be typical for the Clark County area. They'll be close to capacity almost instantly. It's to the point that I don't know that we can build (hospitals) fast enough."