Health care briefs

Fri, Aug 20, 2010 (3 a.m.)

Tour seeking support for funding to visit Vegas

To help resolve what they call the chronic underfunding of the nation’s rehabilitative and long-term care services, the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living have teamed up to conduct a nationwide Driving for Quality Care petition initiative.

The RV tour is set to arrive in Las Vegas at 11 a.m. Sept. 3 at the Marquis Care Plaza Regency, 6021 W. Cheyenne Ave. The tour will also visit Carson City on Sept. 22.

Organizers said the goal of the cross-country tour is to urge President Barack Obama and state and local leaders throughout the country to help resolve the underfunding of the services. In Nevada, the Driving for Quality Care team will meet with local and state leaders.

“This national RV tour emphasizes the need for adequate, stable and consistent Medicaid funding, which is crucial for high-quality care, quality of life, and quality staffing in care communities across America,” said Erin Sprando, administrator of Marquis Care Plaza Regency. “We urgently need the Nevada congressional delegation to help ensure Congress passes emergency Medicaid relief. At a time when Nevada and other states are struggling with budgetary emergencies, enhanced federal Medicaid funding will help us protect seniors’ access to quality care and preserve jobs for our key front-line staff.”

“Even if Congress passes the emergency FMAP (Federal Medical Assistance Percentages) extension — which it must — the Medicaid program itself will confront a steep funding cliff in the years ahead that can only be resolved by passing federal legislation to address the chronic and growing underfunding of senior care,” said Charles Perry, executive director for Nevada Health Care Association. “Our profession’s robust quality improvement agenda and our ability to improve staffing stability in the face of an unprecedented demographic challenge require passage of the Nursing Home Patient & Medicaid Assistance Act of 2010.”

Nevada Cancer Institute nursing program offered

The Nevada Cancer Institute said it’s launching its “Plus One Program,” a paid nursing internship initiative to equip nursing graduates with advanced training.

After completing a paid one-year internship at the institute, participants will become oncology nurses, which the NVCI called a highly sought-after specialty.

“These specialized jobs have the potential to pay increased wages, provide excellent benefits and support articulated career ladders within the field of oncology,’’ NVCI said in a statement.

Plus One is provided in partnership with the College of Southern Nevada and Workforce Connections, and is funded by a $3.2 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant. The annual program is launching with nine participants with plans to expand in coming years.

The Cancer Institute said current nursing market is flooded with experienced RNs who’ve come out of retirement or delayed retirement as a result of the recession. Recently graduated registered nurses are struggling to find jobs today because, after cutbacks, hospitals don’t have the resources to train new nurses, NVCI said.

“Plus One is the first internship program of its kind. It is a significant step to creating a more robust cancer care infrastructure in Southern Nevada while helping recent nursing graduates receive their oncology certification and increase their chances of landing better paying jobs,” Cheryl Martin, NVCI’s chief operating officer and chief nursing executive, said in a statement.

ITT Technical to offer nursing associate degree

ITT Technical Institute in Henderson is expanding its existing offerings to include a new associate degree program in nursing. The program helps graduates prepare to become licensed registered nurses.

“We are helping Nevada in its quest to provide qualified individuals an opportunity to become RNs,” said Peggy Schuber, program chairwoman, ITT Tech in Henderson. “ITT Tech is prepared to help these individuals pursue their dreams of becoming a nurse while helping to ease the community’s nursing shortage.”

Although some medical organizations say there’s a glut of nurses, ITT said the American Association of Colleges of Nursing projects that nursing will be the fastest growing job market in the nation through 2012, and the country will face a shortage of a half-million nurses by 2020.

ITT Tech in Henderson said an informational seminar for anyone interested in the nursing program is set for 2 p.m. Aug. 24 at 168 N. Gibson Road, Henderson. ITT Tech’s new nursing classes in Henderson are scheduled to begin Sept. 13. For more information, call 702-558-5404.

Sahara Hotel picks new health insurance carrier

Saint Mary’s Health Plans, which is part of Catholic Healthcare West, said it became the endorsed group health insurance carrier for the Sahara Hotel’s 500 members.

Sahara employees will have access to a comprehensive network of health care providers, including most Las Vegas Valley hospitals, Saint Mary’s said.

Saint Mary’s also has a variety of health and wellness benefits including routine physical examinations, health risk screenings, lifestyle education programs, immunizations and a 24-hour nurse line.

Health monitoring service offered in Vegas

Fusion Care Systems, a health monitoring service provider, launched its services in Las Vegas this month.

The company says its technology offers new ways for seniors, their families and caregivers to monitor health and preserve independence.

Fusion Care said it creates individually customized monitoring systems centered on a touch screen unit and an Internet connection.

These systems send friends, family and caregivers alerts for changes in patients’ daily living activities, prescription schedules and more. Users can communicate to each other from within the system and receive alerts by e-mail, phone or text message.

The company said it was founded by CEO Matt Smith, an IT entrepreneur with a background in custom residential automation systems.

MountainView to expand emergency room

MountainView Hospital on July 20 announced a $34 million project that will almost double the size of its emergency room and add an intensive care unit.

Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2011, hospital officials said. The emergency room will expand from 22 to 42 beds. Other additions include a new triage area, a new ambulance entrance, a helipad and new equipment to quickly evaluate patients with chest pains.

“Over the years, we have seen a significant increase in patient activity in our emergency room,” MountainView CEO Will Wagnon said in a statement. “While MountainView has always been a valuable health care resource, we believe that now is the time for us to expand so that we can continue to meet the needs of our community.”

The ICU unit will house 12 beds. The 72-bed medical surgical unit on the fourth floor will also undergo renovation.

The current emergency room will remain open until the expansion and renovation is complete, hospital officials said.

The hospital, a member of the Sunrise Health System, is at 3100 N. Tenaya Way.

Centennial Hills health center opens

Centennial Hills Hospital opened its first Occupational Health Center on Aug. 11.

Dr. Amir Nicknam, the medical director for the Occupational Health Center, said the location in North Las Vegas is the first of its kind in the Las Vegas Valley.

The center, 4100 N. Martin Luther King Blvd., is meant to aid people who were injured or became ill while working.

Nicknam said the location was chosen, in part, because of the large number of industrial businesses in the area.

The goal of the center is to provide workers and employers with services that are uniquely tailored to their needs, he said. The center includes a physical therapy gym, two waiting areas, on-site imaging and four exam rooms.

Traditionally, Nicknam said, injured employees would be sent to the emergency room, and then be transferred to a hospital that could accommodate people receiving workers’ compensation. The new center will consolidate the process for Las Vegas businesses, and will likely get workers back on the job more quickly, he said.

Low-income residents offered help

Working to offer services to those in need during the economic downturn, the Las Vegas Urban League announced a community partnership that will provide dental and medical care for low-income residents in Southern Nevada.

The Urban League has teamed up with Star Smiles Medical Group to offer affordable medical and dental program services at the Star Smiles Medical Group office, 6440 West Flamingo Road.

Local hospital among the most beautiful

Soliant Health, a specialty health care staffing provider and part of Adecco Group, named the nation’s Most Beautiful hospitals.

San Diego’s Sharp Memorial Hospital was named America’s Most Beautiful Hospital by voters on the Soliant.com website.

No. 6 on the Most Beautiful list was St. Rose Dominican Hospitals — San Martin Campus.

Local hospital among the most innovative

St. Rose Dominican Hospitals — Rose de Lima Campus was recognized by Avatar International, an industry leader in health care quality improvement services, as one of its most innovative hospital partners in 2010, based on 2009 performance.

The award acknowledges quality improvement initiatives that were effective, measurable and novel.

Internship program to be offered

Nevada State College is partnering with local mental health facilities (including Montevista Hospital, New Beginnings Counseling Centers and Mojave Adult, Child, and Family Services) to offer internships to about 15 students a semester.

As interns, NSC students help fulfill the personnel needs of the local mental health community while giving students on-the-job training for bachelor-level mental health positions including case management, psychosocial rehabilitation and day treatment programming.

A spokeswoman said the internship training is so effective that several of NSC’s students have been hired by these agencies after graduation.

Weight wellness center opens in Las Vegas

The Gastric Band Institute in Las Vegas has opened the WhyDiet Weight Management & Wellness Center.

Nearly 85 percent of the overweight and obese individuals who attend the Gastric Band Institute’s weight loss surgery seminars end up not qualifying for a weight loss surgery. The WhyDiet Weight Management & Wellness Center was established to serve their needs.

The center promotes healthy weight loss options.

Paramedic training, education offered

Emergency medical service professionals Dr. Bryan Bledsoe and Larry Johnson have created the Critical Care Paramedic Academy, which offers advanced courses designed to train and educate paramedics in Southern Nevada. They earlier developed a successful curriculum for paramedics in Texas.

Bledsoe is the clinical professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Nevada School of Medicine and has authored EMS textbooks including “Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice,” “Paramedic Emergency Care” and “Prehospital Emergency Pharmacology.”

Johnson is the clinical manager for American Medical Response, MedicWest Ambulance and the National Center of Technical Instruction, where he oversees the training and continued education of the companies’ medics.

Their three-week, 116-hour program is the result of the two men developing the curriculum and gaining support from the NCTI, AMR, University Medical Center and Valley Hospital and is a part of a growing educational trend for training current and future paramedics, a spokeswoman said.

Drug drop-off program held

Following Southern Nevada’s first Operation Medicine Cabinet event in February, University of Southern Nevada’s Drug Abuse Awareness team and a coalition of local organizations organized a second event on Aug. 14 to collect unused and expired prescription and over-the-counter drugs from the public.

Unused and expired drugs were dropped off anonymously and with no-questions-asked for safe and proper disposal during the drive-through in the parking lot of Metro Police’s Northwest Area Command.

MGM named PGA title sponsor

The Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, a PGA Tour Event, announced MGM Resorts International as its title sponsor for the 2010 Championship Pro-Am to be held Oct. 20 at TPC Summerlin.

“We are delighted to partner with the world’s leader in hospitality and resort brands,” Adam Sperling, tournament director, said in a statement. “We only expect this relationship to grow as we will continue to actively pursue additional opportunities to promote the event, our local partnerships and Las Vegas.”

As part of a three-year agreement, MGM will have a heightened presence at the Pro-Am as well as have the opportunity annually to use a different property as the host venue of the pairings party. This year’s host for the Tuesday evening pairings party will be Aria at CityCenter, which also will serve as the host hotel for those amateurs participating in the Championship Pro-Am.

Drub abuse awareness event planned

The Solutions Foundation on Sept. 22 is holding a Youth Anti-Drug Awareness Campaign Event in Las Vegas to raise money to assist in the teaching of school staffs about drug abuse, continuation of the group’s Substance Abuse Awareness Program and developing community involvement in preventing substance abuse in Nevada.

Tickets are $250 and business sponsorships are available. For information, seesolutions-foundation.org, call 228-8520 or e-mail: dmarlon@solutions-foundation.org.