Dental school treatment program criticized

Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005 | 9:07 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- Assemblyman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, isn't happy with the way low-income dental patients are being treated at the Quick Care center in Las Vegas.

He said he had received complaints that the children and adults have to wait 12 to 14 hours before they are seen.

"And there's no assessment, and they just pull the tooth," he said during a Wednesday meeting of the Legislative Interim Finance Committee of which he is chairman.

Pat Ferrillo, dean of the dental school at UNLV, did not deny the accusations and said he would investigate the claims.

He said the clinic at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Vegas Drive is inundated with patients. Initially the program expected to treat 67,000 eligible recipients, but instead there are now 90,000 eligible patients, Ferrillo said.

"There is a tremendous demand," he said. "We're working to provide quality care."

Ferillo emphasized that licensed dentists, not students, do the dental work.

Arberry said he heard that the dental school intended to close down the location. Ferrillo said that's not true. He said the school is looking at moving some of the patients to the dental school site at Shadow Lane to try to alleviate some of the load at the clinic.

After the meeting, Arberry complained the program was "mass producing."

"They have got to figure out a way to serve the people so they don't feel like second-class citizens," he said.

The dental school was before the Finance Committee that approved the use of $372,909 in added student fees to buy instructional equipment.

The committee also approved the use by the law school at UNLV of $436,939 in added student fees to buy books and finance operating expenses.

Richard Morgan, dean of the law school, was questioned about how many of the graduates stay in Nevada and what percentage pass the Nevada bar examination.

He said 90 percent of the graduates remain in Nevada and about 60 percent pass the bar examination to be permitted to practice. While a 60 percent passing level is quite low, he argued that the examination is rigorous.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, questioned Morgan about the law school joining with the National Judicial College in Reno to offer instruction and a law degree.

Morgan said that was in the original plan to televise classes to Reno. But he said the American Bar Association has prohibited students from taking more than 12 credits by video. The faculty is working on a program to provide some classes in Reno but it will never be a "full-fledged" school.

In other action, the committee: