Hospital prepped to open

Michelle Swafford

Friday, Feb. 27, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.

Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center, the second of three hospitals opening in the southwest part of the Las Vegas Valley, is scheduled to open Monday at 12:01 a.m. with fireworks and fanfare.

The first few minutes of the hospital's post-midnight opening will begin with a fireworks display and ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the $140 million hospital and signify to about 220,000 households that health care options are expanding in the southwest.

The only thing that could delay the hospital's opening are some minor repairs that the Nevada Department of Public Safety must sign off on before the hospital receives its license, hospital spokeswoman Annette Kinsman said. She said hospital officials don't anticipate any problems, but would know by this afternoon whether the license and the hospital's opening would be delayed.

HCA Inc., based in Nashville, Tenn., built the 279,000-square-foot hospital at 9300 W. Sunset Road with an adjacent 100,000-square-foot medical office building. Southern Hills will ease the local shortage of hospital beds with 106 private rooms and 24 semi-private rooms. It has the capacity to expand by an additional 115 beds once demand increases.

Southern Hills will also provide much-needed emergency-room beds with 22 regular beds and eight beds for patients who need to be observed. Not only will the increased bed supply help with long emergency wait-times, but also the hospital has pledged a 90-minute turnaround time for patients with acute conditions.

Chief Executive Ken Armstrong said the hospital staff recognizes the crowding of emergency rooms as a significant problem, so great emphasis and resources were placed on making the emergency-room experience quicker.

In addition to emergency services, Southern Hills will offer most acute care services. Within a few months, the hospital plans to offer a level two critical care nursery. Critical patients who cannot be adequately treated at Southern Hills will be transferred to sister hospital Sunrise.

The last couple of weeks, Southern Hills has mailed several direct-marketing pieces and held hospital tours to familiarize the community and health care professionals with its offerings.

Nearly 2,000 southwest valley residents picked up complimentary first-aid kits offered by the hospital as a way to market itself. Emergency medical crews toured the hospital to learn where to admit and transfer patients. More than 800 people attended an invitation-only gala Thursday night.

Employees have been prepping for the opening by practicing patient scenarios.

Southern Hills is fully staffed with nearly 500 people and will begin procedures the first day it opens as patients are admitted through the emergency room. About 80 physicians will occupy the medical office building, which is scheduled to open within a few weeks.

Because the Las Vegas Valley has a shortage of nurses and physicians, numerous efforts have been taken to fill hospital positions, Armstrong said.

About 27 percent of the staff transferred from Sunrise Hospital and 5 percent transferred from sister hospital MountainView. Other staff was hired through national and local recruiting.

Armstrong said the key to keeping his staff is to make Southern Hills a good place to work. Nurses will be given control over their patients and will accompany physicians on their rounds to improve communication.

In addition, nurses will be able to enroll in training and leadership courses to enhance their skills.

The nurses will not be represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 1107, which represents nurses at Sunrise Hospital. Competitor Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center, which is a few miles from Southern Hills, is not unionized either.

Although Southern Hills has attracted some of its sister hospitals' employees, neither Sunrise nor MountainView will scale back on their services. In fact, both hospitals are undergoing expansions to accommodate additional patients.

Southern Hills is the second hospital to open in the southwest part of the valley. Universal Health Services, based in King of Prussia, Pa., opened Spring Valley Hospital on Oct. 2. San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West broke ground on St. Rose Dominican Hospital -- San Martin Campus on Feb. 10. All three hospitals will be within a five-mile radius of each other.

Dr. Edwin Kingsley, chairman of the Clark County Medical Society and immediate past chief of staff at Sunrise, said the central valley hospitals, especially Sunrise and Valley, could be hurt by the new hospital's opening because of staff transferring.

He said the number of physicians at Sunrise has declined slightly, in part because of suburban hospitals opening.

"As the city grows, most doctors tend to stay closer to home and most doctors live in the suburbs," Kingsley said.

Even his medical practice, Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, is opening an office in Southern Hills' adjoining medical building.

Larry Matheis, executive director of the Nevada State Medical Association, said Southern Hills brings opportunities and challenges to the Las Vegas Valley medical community.

"It clearly put services in the part of the valley that needed it and that's important for emergency care with the growth in the valley," he said. "The time it takes to get to emergency departments has increased."

But Matheis said an additional hospital burdens the valley's health care labor pool.

Bill Welch, president and chief executive of the Nevada Hospital Association, said Southern Hills will increase access to medical services, but the fast-growing population will soon outpace the additional beds.

"The challenge we have is that Nevada, particularly Clark County, continues to be the fastest-growing area in the country," he said. "With that growth comes the demand for hospital services. The challenge for the hospital will be at some point and time the demand will catch up and exceed the availability of the resources."

Welch said the shortage of physicians and nurses in the Las Vegas Valley could challenge the hospital's staffing plans.

"We are already at the worst shortage in the nation based on industry standards," he said. "The opening of Southern Hills doesn't worsen that, it makes the challenge greater to more efficiently use the resources and recruit staff to the state."

He said the Nevada hospital industry spends about $4 million annually to recruit health care professionals and the bulk of that is for Clark County.