- Execution in Nevada to use powerful opioid fentanyl (cnn.com)Death row inmate says no concerns about painful execution (elkodaily.com)
...the Nevada Department of Corrections is preparing to use fentanyl in a three-part drug combination for an upcoming execution....The combination includes the sedative diazepam...the muscle relaxant cisatracurium; and fentanyl...Nevada turned to fentanyl for an execution because the state had no other drugs to carry out a lethal injection after "pharmaceutical industry opposition to the use of their products in executions,"..This fentanyl drug combination is to be used in the execution of 46-year-old Scott Raymond Dozier on November 14 at Ely State Prison in Ely, Nevada...Dozier was sentenced to death after a first-degree murder conviction for the 2002 killing and dismemberment of Jeremiah Miller, 22...The concern is that this specific chemical cocktail that they have proposed has never been used in this way before. It's not like they can point to some success or result. This will be the first time...
- Nevada has shortage of pediatricians (businesspress.vegas)
Clark County has just 317 of them (pediatric specialists and subspecialists), according to the state Medical Examiners Board. That’s about 4.5 pediatricians per a population of 100,000, far below the national average of 7 per 100,000, according to the health services research for the Office of Statewide Initiatives at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. The data ranked Nevada 47th in the country in its lack of pediatricians....Nevada isn’t the only state being impacted. Shortages are being felt across the country due to the largest overall physician shortage in our nation’s history...According to an Association of American Medical Colleges’ 2016 report, our nation is projected to have a shortage ranging between 61,700 and 94,700 physicians by 2025...Pediatric specialists and subspecialists are two significant areas affected by the shortage. Reasons for this deficit include one-third of current physicians are aging out of the profession, and the reduced number of medical students entering pediatric specialties...Nevada...averages below the national trend with a larger deficit of pediatric specialists and subspecialists...“We’re basically treading water,” said Tabor Griswold...Office of Statewide Initiatives at the University of Nevada...She estimates the area needs slightly under a 50 percent increase in pediatric specialists to meet the U.S. median...
- UNLV takes over eight patient clinics (businesspress.vegas)
The UNLV School of Medicine launched its first class July 17 but the community outreach for providing medical care is already underway and will expand in the future...UNLV has taken over eight patient clinics that the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine operated. That includes a multispecialty pediatric center, a family and sports medicine clinic, behavioral health and counseling. UNR had 24 offices and clinical spaces and UNLV will create eight patient clinics, many around University Medical Center and others in the northeast valley...The clinical practices are vital to the medical school by providing a training ground for students and residents who’ve already graduated, in addition to the revenue they generate to operate the school...The clinics, which generate about $70 million a year, are running at a deficit of about $6 million to $7 million a year. The school is making organizational changes to reduce that deficit and ultimately have a surplus with local management under UNLV and other operational changes that will bring more patients and revenue into the operation…
- Nevada gets $1.2M grant to fight opioid problem (reviewjournal.com)
Nevada will get another $1.2 million in federal grants to fight the opioid epidemic in the state...Gov. Brian Sandoval announced the new funding...It comes on top of $8.24 million in previous opioid-related grants the state has received...The grants will help the state implement a new state law and the recommendations of last year’s Prescription Drug Abuse Summit. The law put in place prescribing protocols for health care providers for controlled substances that are painkillers...Grants awarded to Nevada:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Prescription Drug Overdose: Prevention for States. The grant is focused on state-level interventions for preventing prescription drug abuse. The state Division of Public and Behavioral Health will get an additional $789,182 on Sept. 1. The state’s initial amount was $369,450.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Enhanced State Surveillance of Opioid-Involved Morbidity and Mortality. This grant analyzes overdose morbidity and mortality data, with input from coroners and medical examiners. DPBH will receive $387,763.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Strategic Prevention Framework – Partnerships for Success. The grant is aimed at preventing drug abuse among young people. Nevada will receive $2.2 million.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis. Awarded in April, this provides $5.6 million to develop the infrastructure needed for treating residents.
- Nevada earns D on nonprofit’s new health-care report card (reviewjournal.com)
A new nonprofit created by heavy hitters from Nevada’s business and medical communities gave the state a D grade on its first report card on the state’s health care system...The report card was released...by the Nevada Medical Center and is intended to focus attention on improving access to quality health care in the state...Larry Matheis, the NMC’s CEO, said the report card will help state leaders focus on the gaps that must be filled to improve Nevada’s medical standing. Currently, he said, the state’s medical system “resembles a series of isolated communities…due to the lack of collaboration among medical professionals and the dearth of thought given to enhancing our community’s reputation.”...The report card’s grades, based on analysis of data supplied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other government agencies, show how Nevada fares in the categories of health care access, chronic disease, nutrition and activity, mental health and substance abuse. The grades weren’t all bad, with the state receiving a passing “C” grade on chronic disease and a better-than-average “B” on nutrition and activity.
- Micro-hospitals moving into the Las Vegas Valley (reviewjournal.com)
A new type of medical facility is popping up in Las Vegas neighborhoods: a combination of a hospital, a place to get specialty care and an urgent care center...It’s called a micro-hospital or a neighborhood hospital...The model is so new that there isn’t much data available to measure their performance in other markets...several local experts are hopeful that micro-hospitals will improve Nevada’s health care system...Dignity Health and Emerus partnered to open three of these neighborhood hospitals in the valley so far this year, with another planned for December...the goal is to improve local access to emergency services and physicians...Microhospitals are able to come online much faster than a traditional hospital...micro-hospitals cost between $15 million and $20 million to build and equip and range between 20,000 and 60,000 square feet...a traditional hospital generally costs between $150 million and $250 million to build and equip and is typically about 74,600 square feet...Since a micro-hospital has inpatient beds and provides hospital services, operators may be able to charge hospital-based rates, allowing for higher reimbursement, despite having lower overhead costs than a hospital...
- UNLV School of Medicine invests $600,000 in virtual anatomy (businesspress.vegas)
The UNLV School of Medicine is breaking with traditional teaching methods when the school’s 60 medical students start their anatomy class in November...Instead of using cadavers for dissections of the human body, the school invested $600,000 in the use of virtual technology. Students will learn anatomy by using virtual anatomy tables with large, interactive touch screens that are large, super high-resolution computer screens. They cost $100,000 each...The school describes them as body images in a wide variety of perspectives. They are primed with a library of images, such as X-rays, MRIs, CT scans and pathology slides...Students will be able dissect, rotate, slice, and reassemble organs and other anatomic structures as needed. They will download case studies of real patients and examine them. They also can explore the histology and histopathology of the organ systems studied… UNLV will be the first allopathic medical school to use virtual 3-D anatomy...This is a very innovative way of doing this...No one else in the country has attempted to do what we’re doing. We’re cutting-edge at this point...
- Heather Korbulic, Executive Director of the Silver State Health Exchange – Nevada NewsMakers (nevadanewsmakers.com)
Nevada NewsMakers: Host: Sam Shad - Guest: Heather Korbulic, Executive Director of the Silver State Health Exchange
- Saint Mary’s to close Reno Women’s Health Center (rgj.com)
Saint Mary's will close its outpatient Women's Health Center next month and will "align" with unnamed community health providers who offer similar services…Employees of the women's health center at the hospital's main location on Arlington Avenue have been offered transfers to open positions elsewhere in the system...The center will close Oct. 13...The hospital's Family Birthing Center will remain open and will continue to offer lactation support and childbirth education...Our goal is to remain focused on the obligation we have to our patients to provide quality services that are affordable and accessible...Therefore, when the advancement of medical services goes beyond our available resources, we seek to find collaborative opportunities so patients have access to the highest level of care offered locally...
- What should happen next on healthcare reform? Northern Nevada leaders weigh in (rgj.com)
- Repeal without solid replacement puts Nevada lives at risk - Tony Slonim, president and CEO of Renown Health
- Health care is about people not politics - Sharon Chamberlain, CEO of Northern Nevada HOPES
- Keep vaccines accessible and affordable - Heidi Parker, Executive Director of Immunize Nevada
- Protect Medicaid, seek single-payer long-term - Charles Duarte, CEO of Community Health Alliance
- Maintain funding so hospitals can serve everyone - Helen Lidholm, CEO of Saint Mary’s Health Network