$89 million will help health system expand

Cristina Rodriguez / Staff Writer

Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 | 7:41 a.m.

The state has given $88.6 million to Nevada's Health Sciences System in an effort to rev up the project. The year-old system - which brings together 150 health-related programs of study in the Nevada System of Higher Education, from nursing to dentistry - will use that money for new classrooms and work space. It also will leverage the appropriation as a tool for raising contributions. "I think it's a little easier to sit with a donor now," said Marcia Turner, the Health Sciences System's interim vice chancellor and chief operating officer. "Instead of wondering or guessing what the state is going to fund, we now know." The health system will use the $89 million to construct two new buildings and remodel three old ones. It promised the state it also would collect $38 million from donors (or 30 percent of the total) for the expansion. Leaders had originally requested much more: $110 million for construction, for which it would have collected $47 million more; and $56 million in operational funds to increase faculty and conduct research. The cut in the construction request meant no funding for a sixth building, which would have gone up in Las Vegas' downtown Union Park. None of the operational money was approved. "It was a tough budget year," Turner said. The construction package will go toward one new building each in Las Vegas and Reno, plus two renovated buildings in Reno and one in Las Vegas. In Southern Nevada, the new space (on Shadow Lane, close to University Medical Center) will be filled by the University of Nevada School of Medicine doctors' program and by the UNLV School of Nursing. The nursing school will move there from UNLV's main campus. "(Lawmakers) saw the importance of having cutting-edge, state-of-the-art space to train health care professionals," Turner said. "I keep envisioning bright students in lab coats, curing a disease." Larry Matheis, executive director of the ! Nevada S tate Medical Association, said the appropriation "looks like it's a very good start." "It wasn't as much as was proposed, but nobody really expected (that)," he said. "This gives them two years to really build some infrastructure It's a very hopeful sign that we're going to build the infrastructure so that 10 years later we're not talking about being last in the number of nurses per population." The health system just got off the ground in the past year, recruiting Turner - the former director of government relations for UNLV - and then throwing a fundraiser in September that brought in $1.6 million. For its foundation, the health system is using representatives from the state's eight higher education institutions. Turner said the fundraising team has "a wide target." "There's just something about people wanting to help contribute to the advancement of health sciences," she said. "People realize it's really important in our community." Cristina Rodriguez covers medical and workplace issues for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2326 or by e-mail at cristina.rodriguez@lasvegassun.com.