Possible relief for UMC

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

A government program that provides an incentive for foreign doctors to remain in the United States after completing their residency training could be a help to Clark County’s financially ailing public hospital.

The recession has left University Medical Center so short of money that in recent months it has been cutting critical services.

The CBS News program “60 Minutes” recently aired a segment about the consequence of UMC’s having closed its outpatient clinic for chemotherapy — cancer patients were cut off from essential treatment.

The Las Vegas Sun’s Marshall Allen, who has reported extensively on the program for foreign doctors, wrote last week about a conversation with Kathy Silver, the hospital’s CEO.

When the J-1 program — named for the visas that allow the foreign doctors to complete their residencies in the United States — was mentioned, Silver said she would find out whether it would work at UMC.

We do not see any reason why it wouldn’t.

J-1 doctors must agree to return to their home countries for at least two years after completing their residencies. They can dispense with that requirement, however, if they enter a program designed to help medically underserved people. Many patients at UMC would qualify under that definition.

The program requires the doctors to sign with a sponsoring employer and work at least three years at a salary set by federal guidelines, which employers find to be a bargain.

Allen’s past stories disclosed that some employers in Nevada, often doctors in private practice, abused the foreign doctors by overworking and underpaying them.

But, as Allen wrote last week, foreign doctors would probably be eager to work for UMC, a publicly owned hospital. And UMC should be eager to have them, as their U.S. residency programs required them to have proven skills.

We hope government administrators quickly clarify that UMC is a qualified employer under this program. Even a few J-1doctors working there could make a difference in the lives of many patients.