Southwest hospital to target valley’s rehabilitation needs

Michelle Swafford

Wednesday, June 29, 2005 | 11 a.m.

A new rehabilitation hospital is on the drawing board for southwest Las Vegas.

Former Sunrise Hospital Chief Executive Allan Stipe has partnered with Dr. Rudy Manthei, an ophthalmologist and medical director of Nevada Eye & Ear, and real estate developer Ed Nigro to build the 50-private-room hospital. The partners are operating as Las Vegas Rehabilitation Hospital LLC.

Desert Canyon Rehabilitation Hospital is an $18.5 million hospital planned on five acres on the west side of the Las Vegas Beltway between the Sunset and Russell road exits.

The 50,000-square-foot hospital is scheduled to open late next year and has obtained its zoning and use permit approvals, Stipe said.

KGA Architects and Nigro Development are designing and building the hospital. No groundbreaking date has been set.

Desert Canyon would complement the approximately 380 other rehab beds in Clark County that are in freestanding facilities and within acute-care hospitals. The main difference is that Desert Canyon is being designed with more of a resort theme than traditional rehab centers, Stipe said.

"We plan to provide access to all the patients that live in the Las Vegas Valley," he said, adding that many of the existing facilities stay near capacity.

Some of the rooms will feature private patios, and a courtyard will provide refuge and rehabilitation to patients, he said, adding that an indoor gym and therapy pool will complement the rehab offerings.

Also, celebrity chef Gustav Mauler will cater the food and beverages. Mauler owns Sauzio at the Orleans and Spiedini in the JW Marriott Summerlin.

"It's not sterile," Manthei said. "It's very warm and very open, very conducive to getting better. There was a cry from physicians that existing facilities were not accomplishing the quality of care and outcomes."

Stipe and his partners toured top-notch rehab facilities across the country to gain ideas for design and programs that will be incorporated into Desert Canyon.

Patients who are likely to be treated at the hospital would be recovering from strokes, spinal chord injuries, polyarthritis, frac- tures and traumas and would receive three hours of therapy per day for an average of two weeks, Stipe said.

About 150 employees will be hired including nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and support staff.

Suzanne Cram, former chief operating officer of Sunrise, has been hired as Desert Canyon's chief executive and will start in October, Stipe said.

Nevada, like many states, is experiencing a severe nursing shortage, but hospital leaders are certain they will be able to attract the necessary employees.

"I'm confident we'll be able to do that," Stipe said, adding that he was able to open MountainView and Southern Hills hospitals and expand Sunrise when he served as HCA Inc.'s market president.