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UNLV’s nascent medical school has a place to call home after clearing one final bureaucratic hurdle to claim a spot inside the Las Vegas Medical District...Clark County Commission...unanimously approved a plan giving the university a 9-acre site at 625 Shadow Lane, where it plans to build its new medical school. The panel also voted to let the school lease space from nearby University Medical Center while it raises money for its own building...Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said the project has been a "long time coming" and called the school’s development "a historical moment."...School officials expect to break ground for the new building in about three to four years..."This is going to have such an impact on generations to come," Commissioner Lawrence Weekly said. "Students (are) going to be able to not have to dream about being a doctor or nurse and go to school out of state — they’ll be able to stay at home."

As the UNLV School of Medicine prepares for its expected July 2017 debut, the state’s Reno-based medical school has begun crafting a new image to distinguish itself...The first step: Changing its name...The Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents on Friday voted to tweak the name of the University of Nevada School of Medicine, which will be now known as the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, effective July 1 of this year...The Reno campus will use the name change to clarify...its affiliation, location and distinct role in the state separate from that of the developing medical school at UNLV...The move to establish its own identity comes at an interesting time for the Reno campus; a month from now, UNLV’s School of Medicine takes another step toward its own accreditation when it hosts a committee site visit...

The Southern Nevada Health District will close its Henderson location late this month as it searches for new sites in the area...The Henderson Public Health Center, at 520 E. Lake Mead Parkway, near Burkholder Boulevard, will shutter at the end of the business day June 24...Costing the district just over $800,000 a year in rent and fees, the Henderson facility has seen a decline in customers in recent years while the district’s main facility and East Las Vegas Public Health Center have experienced increases in customer visits..."We’re looking at how we utilize our resources in the district and want to make sure we’re efficient,"...(health district Director of Administration Andy Glass)

Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center plans to expand its psychiatric services with the addition of a $26 million behavioral health center to its main structure...The one-story, 80-bed center, which will be connected to the main hospital building at 9300 W. Sunset Road, is scheduled to begin construction this year...It is expected to open next year to "ease the chronic lack of space and add services to treat adolescents through senior patients, age 55 and over,"...The facility will serve patients with state-funded Medicaid, Medicare and all private insurance....About 120 staff members will work at the center, 92 of which will be new hires...The lack of Medicaid psych beds has led to overcrowded emergency rooms in our hospitals and delayed treatment for those in dire need...

Parata Systems and Pharmacy Times  2016 Next-Generation Pharmacist® Awards Gala, which honor pharmacists, technicians, student pharmacists and industry advocates who are defining the future of the industry, will be on August 6, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Dr. Zachery Halford, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy...for Roseman University’s College of Pharmacy, was named one of the finalists in the Specialty Pharmacist category...

Walmart announced that it is cancelling plans for a store at the Outlets at Sparks due to issues surrounding pharmacy services at the location...Walmart spokeswoman Delia Garcia cited the inability to have pharmacy operations at the site, also known as the Legends at Sparks Marina, as the reason for the decision..."After serious consideration, given the existing development restrictions prohibiting Walmart from operating a pharmacy at the Legends at Sparks Marina, we are no longer planning for a Walmart store at that location," Garcia said via e-mail on Friday afternoon...The value of a full-service pharmacy, including access to Walmart’s $4 generic prescription program, along with one-stop shopping for groceries and general merchandise is critical to our customers...

Nevada’s senior citizens’ health and quality of life were again ranked among the lowest nationally in a UnitedHealthcare report released last week, placing 42nd...America’s Health Rankings’ 2016 Senior Report takes into account 35 factors, including senior obesity and smoking rates, prevalence of falls, flu vaccination statistics and senior volunteerism...Nevada’s ranking was dragged down by factors including the state’s excessive drinking rate among seniors — self-reported at 9.2 percent...Nevada also suffers from comparatively low community support expenditures and flu vaccination coverage...The state’s strengths include a low prevalence of falls among seniors and a low rate of preventable hospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries...Sandra Owens, a UNLV social work professor and expert in senior care, reviewed the report and described it as a good assessment of a state with work to do to improve health care for its elderly and overall populations.

A budding Southern Nevada medical school was dealt a blow Thursday as it learned a committee declined to grant the school’s request for preliminary accreditation, likely delaying the college’s opening...The medical school is part of the private, nonprofit Roseman University of Health Sciences...Roseman spokesman Jason Roth said it’s unclear how much of a delay the news could cause in the development of the medical college. The school is awaiting a letter from the accreditation committee outlining the reasons for the rejection...Institutions denied preliminary accreditation can choose to appeal, according to the LCME website (Liaison Committee on Medical Education). Rejected schools must wait a year before reapplying for accreditation...Roth called the news a temporary setback...

In September, MountainView Hospital received accreditation for its Internal Medicine Residency program..."We are very excited to reach this important milestone in the development of MountainView Hospital’s Graduate Medical Education program," said Dr. Ali Rahimi, director of the Internal Medicine Residency program at the hospital...The hospital was also accredited to add General Surgery and Obstetrics/Gynecology to the residency program..."...it was really about the commitment to primary care," said Chris Mowan, MountainView CEO. "... We were looking for a majority to...stay in Nevada...and practice primary care. Our goal was to find people who were passionate about primary care. Because that’s what we need; that’s our greatest shortage."

If things go as some people hope, northwest Las Vegas could be getting a Level III trauma center at MountainView Hospital...The plan has been under consideration for years but needed updated numbers to show demand...The possibility of MountainView getting approval is not assured. The Regional Trauma Advisory Board did not support its application when the hospital first formally explored the possibility in October...The biggest pushback that we’re getting in the current system is from the existing trauma centers, and many people publicly are concerned that this would have a detrimental effect on UMC...It’s important to remember that the Level III trauma centers take care of the more minor cases, and if it turns out to be something significant, they send the patient to the Level I or II centers. So, looking at the current system, and Siena being a Level III, 85 percent of the people they see either get discharged from the emergency center or get sent to a Level I or Level II facility. They see less than four patients a year who should have gone to a Level I or II center right off the bat. So, the impact is three or four patients a year...At current population levels, MountainView is expected to handle roughly two trauma cases a day, said Swenson, adding the area sees 500 to 600 trauma cases annually.