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In business clark county commission property tax hike considered to 'get everybody paying' for Umc By Conor Shine staff writer More than a third of all patients treated at University Medical Center each year come from nine ZIP codes that surround the valley's urban core and stretch into North Las Vegas. Still, each year hundreds of thousands of patients from suburban Henderson or Summerlin or outlying towns such as Boulder City make their way to the valley's only public hospital for treatment. About 40 percent of UMC patients in 2012 came from unincorporated Clark County, with another 40 percent living in Las Vegas. The remainder includes residents from North Las Vegas, Hen- Make an derson, Mesquite, Boulder City and Nellis Air Force Base. Clark County commissioners say they'd like help paying for the operations of the financially challenged and county-owned UMC. Getting local municipalities such as Las Vegas or Henderson, which face Difference for Kids! ©2013 Fox Children's Miracle Network Hospitals appreciate your support in helping local kids get the care they need. Donate when you see our Miracle Balloon and help kids at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals. cmnhospitals.org Las Vegas Business Press.indd 1 12 20130527_VI12_F.indd 12 Thank you to our generous corporate partners! 5/20/13 3:31 PM budget crunches of their own, to pony up for UMC is a political improbability, commissioners acknowledge. It's led them to consider what commission chairman Steve Sisolak calls an "option of last resort": a countywide increase in property tax rates. UMC faces an operating deficit in fiscal year 2014 of $87 million — about half of which will be covered with federal funding. An additional $30 million will come in a subsidy from Clark County, on top of $100 million the county already provides to the hospital annually. UMC has bled red ink for years, in part due to the high number of uninsured patients it sees. The situation only threatens to worsen, county officials fear, as the federal Affordable Care Act begins providing increased coverage to the currently uninsured, many of whom, given the option, presumably will choose hospitals other than UMC for care. The loss of some newly insured patients plus a statewide expansion of Medicaid, which reimburses at rates that often don't cover the cost of care for patients at UMC, put unique pressures on the hospital's already-tenuous position. Sick of being on the hook to cover any losses at a hospital that benefits the entire valley, commissioners requested an analysis of where UMC's patients come from, broken down by ZIP code. At first glance, the data, which covered the total number of patient visits from 2010 to 2012, showed what you might expect: The highest number of patients comes from the areas immediately surrounding the hospital, overlapping with some of the poorest parts of the valley. But Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said she was surprised by the wide reach the hospital had into outlying areas such as Henderson, which sent 40,000 patients to UMC in 2012. "Why aren't cities helping to pay for this? It's a county hospital, but their constituents are using it," she said. "A countywide tax is a way you get everybody paying something. ... It's one way to bring in the cities, so to speak, that haven't been helping to pay." Giunchigliani said a dedicated revenue stream, in this case a portion of property taxes, would be the best way to shore up the ailing hospital, which also is in line for $78 million in capital improvements to stay competitive with newer, more modern hospitals. Commissioners discussed raising the property tax rate at their May 6 meeting, and any increase would have to be approved at a later date. | 2 7 M AY 2 0 1 3 | 5/23/13 2:28:47 PM