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In business health care St. Rose Dominican making ER waits more comfortable By Eli Segall staff writer In the latest effort to lure patients with promises of a convenient ER, a Las Vegas Valley hospital group is letting emergency-room patients wait in the comfort of their own homes until they're ready to be seen. St. Rose Dominican Hospitals has started using InQuicker, a registration system designed for people who want to use the ER but aren't at risk of dying from their health problem and don't want to sit around in the hospital waiting room. Users check in online for a "projected treatment time" at any of St. Rose's three local hospitals, show up at that time and get "promptly seen by a health care professional," St. Rose said in a news release. InQuicker is not an appointment or reservation service, and users do not skip the ER waiting period, which can last hours. Instead, users can stay at home or somewhere other than the hospital waiting room. If St. Rose expects a delay, the would-be patient receives a phone call or email notification. The system relies on automated keyword recognition to see if someone can really afford to hang out at home for a few hours before seeing a doctor. According to the news release, InQuicker "is designed to filter certain symptom keywords that may indicate a life-threatening or debilitating medical condition. If the symptoms entered indicate such medical conditions, the user is prompted to dial 911 or go immediately to the nearest emergency room." Allen Marino, chief medical officer for St. Rose, said InQuicker is "a simple, convenient way for people with busy lives to conveniently access care for more minor medical needs." "Our patients deserve respect for their time in the emergency room," he said. lawsuits McCarran will put off energy-saving projects to pay $38 million settlement By Conor Shine staff writer McCarran International Airport will pay $38 million to settle a 5-year-old legal dispute alleging that airspace restrictions imposed during the 1990s devalued 191 acres of property near Interstate 15 and Warm Springs Road. Runway expansion in the 1990s led Clark County to implement new zoning regulations limiting building height in a restricted area to avoid interfering with the airport's airspace. Several vacant parcels covering about 191 acres in an area bounded by I-15, Las Vegas Boulevard, Warm Springs Road and Blue Diamond Road were hit with these restrictions. The parcels were all owned by 70 Limited Partnership, a company controlled by the estate of Thomas Beam, founder of Las Vegas Development Co., who was a major donor to UNLV and whose name is featured prominently on the music and engineering buildings. Beam's estate filed suit against the county and McCarran in 2008, alleging that the height restrictions devalued the property and constituted a taking by the government that demanded compensation under state eminent domain law. The county fought the charges all the way to the Nevada Supreme Court, which ruled that the a portion of the airspace and building height restrictions resulted in a taking for public use. The $38 million settlement includes compensation for the taking of the aerial rights of way, plus interest and at8 20131104_VI08_F.indd 8 torneys' fees. The payment will come out of the airport's capital improvement fund, which comes from revenues generated by landing fees. Spokesman Chris Jones said the settlement means the airport will end its program of purchasing select homes in high-noise areas near the airport's runways, delay the implementation of an airport energy savings plan that included a solar panel park, and stop a project modernizing the airfield and garage lighting with energy-efficient LED fixtures. "It doesn't feel good," Commissioner Steve Sisolak said about the settlement, "but this isn't taxpayer money. It's airport landing fee money. Our legal staff have told us this brings it to an end." Sisolak is uniquely familiar with the situation the county finds itself in — in the early part of the 2000s, he sued over similar airspace and height restrictions that affected a piece of property he owned near the airport. Sisolak's legal battle dragged over several years and ended with him receiving $23.5 million in compensation, interest and attorneys' fees. "When you take away some of that height, there's a damage to the underlying value of that piece of property," said Sisolak, who has since sold the property. "The argument is they can't develop because they can't build as high as other land you find. It makes it less marketable." | 4 NOVEMBER 2013 | 10/30/13 3:08:25 PM