Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

New nonprofit touted as hub for health care in Nevada

A new medical entity has emerged in Nevada, but its mission isn’t to compete with hospitals and medical schools — it’s here to help them.

The Nevada Medical Center was unveiled today as a nonprofit group that would facilitate and promote collaboration among health care centers after a two-year feasibility study found it was a need in Nevada. The nonprofit’s board of directors also announced a $1 million gift from the Bennett Family Foundation that would be spread over four years to help the center begin.

At the announcement, UNLV acting President Don Snyder gave his support to the program along with former U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, who is Touro University Western Division’s CEO and senior provost. Several community leaders, government officials and philanthropists have also pledged support, according to the study.

“(Nevada) has so much that needs to be done, we have to connect the dots in the medical community,” Snyder said. “And this organization does that.”

Based on a model similar to the Texas Medical Center, the Nevada Medical Center would operate in Reno and Las Vegas as an organization that health care institutions like University Medical Center and the potential UNLV medical school could choose to join.

It would then facilitate collaboration among health care groups to fill any holes in the medical landscape from infrastructure to medical needs. The center itself would not compete with other health care institutions, said John O’Reilly, NMC board chairman.

The center would operate off funds from complementary business ventures, donations and grants, according to its feasibility report.

Unlike the Texas Medical Center, the center will not require a building. However, its study recommended medical institutions to invest in academic health centers in Reno and Las Vegas, where collaborative studies and patient care could take place.

In a state that ranks near the bottom in nearly every medical category, O’Reilly said the center could have a large impact.

“Several excellent programs in health care and health care education exist in the state of Nevada,” O’Reilly said in release. “Establishing an entity such as the Nevada Medical Center to focus on increasing these collaborations and partnership opportunities would have a positive and profound effect on health care in our state.”

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