Embarrassment for Nevada

Friday, April 10, 2009 | 2:08 a.m.

When CBS’ “60 Minutes” came to Las Vegas recently the focus was on cancer patients who learned they would no longer be treated at University Medical Center. The news magazine reported Sunday that the publicly funded hospital was reeling not only from heavy financial losses, but also from a $21 million budget cut approved by the Nevada Legislature.

Instead of agreeing on a way to fix Nevada’s antiquated tax revenue system so that everyone pays his fair share, Gov. Jim Gibbons and legislators stood by as UMC cut its outpatient chemotherapy clinic. The hospital also curtailed prenatal services, outpatient mammography and other programs.

The failure of leadership in the governor’s office and the Legislature has caused 2,000 Southern Nevadans to suffer needlessly. All were patients of the chemotherapy clinic who received a letter indicating it was closing its doors. One of the letters went to Helen Sharp, one of four patients profiled by “60 Minutes.”

Sharp, who suffers from lymphoma, is unemployed because of her illness and has no insurance. She told “60 Minutes”: “I don’t want to die. I shouldn’t have to die. This is a county hospital. This is for people that, like me, many people have lost their insurance, have not had any other resources. I mean I was a responsible person. I bought my house. I put money away. I raised my two children. And now I have nothing.”

Eventually Sharp did get treated as an inpatient at UMC, but only because her heart disease and diabetes are life-threatening complications, “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley reported.

We have long been embarrassed by the inaction in Carson City, and now the whole country knows what we’ve been talking about, thanks to “60 Minutes.”

If Gibbons and legislators want to get a real grasp on how their decisions affect typical Nevadans, every one of them should sit down with Sharp and hear her story in full detail. We hope that they would realize, finally, that far more thought should go into crafting a state budget than is part of the narrowly focused, number-crunching exercises state leaders typically perform. If they did that, their decisions would help people who desperately need assistance rather than cast them off to die.