ZZZ - GMG - VEGAS INC 2011-2014

6 | 3 F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 | talking points UNLV med school: Only time will tell Wealthy donors are tired of sending money north with meager benefits for Nevada Historic day for medical education Prognosis looking good for the state with support for freestanding UNLV medical school GueST COLuMN GueST COLuMN People are not interested in a second uNr campus of what Tripp umbach found to be the least economically beneficial allopathic medical school in america. Financial support and expertise from Las Vegas and Nevada will result in ... dramatic changes in medical education, research, training and patient care. by James Dean Leavitt A t the Board of Regents meeting in Elko in September, the Health Sciences System Com- mittee directed the presidents of UNR and UNLV, along with the UNR medical school dean, to develop plans to create full-scale, four-year allopathic campus- es in Reno and Las Vegas, ultimately resulting in a separate, independent, freestanding UNLV School of Medi- cine. As a result of the directive, a memo- randum of understanding was entered into by the Nevada System of Higher Education, UNR, UNLV and the School of Medicine. The memo was discussed Dec. 5 and unanimously endorsed by the full Board of Regents. The memo focuses on designing, financing and by Lindy Schumacher I n the debate over a proposed public medical school in Las Vegas, some have questioned whether donors would sup- port it. I am writing as the former director of Nevada giving for the Lincy Foundation. The foundation made several major grants to health care in Nevada, including to Nevada Heath Centers, St. Rose Hospitals, Nathan Adelson Hospice and Nevada Cancer Institute. Our gifts to NCI alone totaled about $60 million. Donors, businesses and our commu- nity need a stand-alone medical school at UNLV. This is not a new conversation, and we have a dog in this fight. Most of this funding occurred in the past 10 years, including a $5 million gift in 2008 to University of Nevada Health Sciences Foundation for a clini- cal simulation center. That gift proved crucial for the UNR medical school, also known as UNSOM, the University of Nevada School of Medicine. Things were not looking good in 2009, and the accreditation review of the school building a major facility to create full clinical and basic science teaching and research capacity in both Las Vegas and Reno. As a result of the unanimous vote, the Health Sciences System Committee directed UNR, UNLV and the School of Medicine to form campus-specific committees with broad stakeholder support to focus on facilities, staffing, time frames, Liaison Committee for Medical Education accreditation, fund- ing (both private and state), operating and capital requirements for each phase of campus development. The committees will also focus on graduate medical education and the partner- ships necessary with teaching hospitals and community physicians, as well as increasing the number and quality of residencies and fellowship training. These committees will report back to the Health Science System Committee at our next meeting in March. The development of each campus, which leads to a separate, independent allopathic M.D.-granting UNLV School of Medicine, will be entirely dependent on available resources, both private and state. It is time for Las Vegas and the entire state to wholeheartedly support this. Financial support and expertise from Las Vegas and Nevada will result in significant economic impact as well as dramatic changes in medical education, research, training and patient care. I am grateful for the enthusiastic support from my colleagues as well as leadership from the Nevada System of Higher Education, UNLV, UNR and the School of Medicine. I would like to thank members of the Clark County Commission, Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Las Vegas Global Eco- nomic Alliance, Clark County Medical Society and members of the public who attended our meeting and extended their support. We need support and guidance from all Nevadans. Regent James Dean Leavitt is chairman of the Health Sciences System Commit- tee and former chairman of the Nevada Board of Regents. by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education issued a "warning of proba- tion," finding that "Educational space has long been deficient on the Las Vegas UNSOM campus" and that there was a "chronic 'invisibility' of UNSOM in the Las Vegas community." In its response, UNSOM highlighted its only new investment in years, which hap- pened to be the Lincy Foundation gift. Now, fast forward to a more cur- rent conversation: The Lincy Institute at UNLV (supported by a gift that the foundation made for $14 million) continues this investment by produc- ing health policy research in Nevada. The Lincy Institute commissioned the recent study by Tripp Umbach, which found that by 2030, an independent medical school at UNLV could produce more than $1 billion in economic im- pact and add 8,000 jobs in the region. So regardless of our "need" for a medi- cal school in the south, simply based on economics and return on investment, it could be a good idea. Over the past month, the only retort to this data is that the south won't sup- port an independent medical school. Medical school Dean Thomas Schwenk said Las Vegas philanthropists are "confused" by the north-south divisions and are thus not contributing gifts to a Southern Nevada medical school. As a major donor to health care in Nevada, the Lincy Foundation is the op- posite of confused. We know precisely what UNR is selling, and we are not buying a second UNR medical school in Las Vegas. People are not interested in a second UNR campus of what Tripp Umbach found to be the least economi- cally beneficial allopathic medical school in America. Philanthropy is often determined by geography. For instance, several major gifts to the UNR medical school by the Pennington and Redfield foundations have required that their funds stay in Northern Nevada. The Lincy Founda- tion could have required a similar constraint on its gift to the clinical simulation center. Rather, to benefit all Nevadans, our gift allowed the Reno- based medical school use of the facility. I believe Schwenk would find a pool of donors in Las Vegas if he were ask- ing for gifts for a UNLV medical school and not simply a branch of the UNR medical school. Either way, I think Southern Ne- vadans should consider waiting for someone who understands us before we open our checkbooks. Only time will tell. Lindy Schumacher was director of Nevada giving for the Lincy Foundation. Currently, she is CEO of the Fulfillment Fund Las Vegas, a nonprofit organization that helps promising yet educationally underserved and economically disadvan- taged students. 20140203_VI06_F.indd 6 1/30/14 11:56:46 AM

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