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Jeremy Koenig, CEO of Athletigen…visited the Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine at UNLV…to talk about how genetic testing can help athletes become better, stronger and faster by leveraging the genes within them…The institute is conducting research, developing technology and providing education and training to improve individual and community health in Nevada. Personalized, or precision, medicine looks at genetic makeup to help provide a blueprint for effective treatments and disease prevention strategies…Koenig, who competed as a sprinter at the collegiate level in Canada, started Athletigen to help athletes use their genetic code to boost performance…Genetics can help show athletes whether they have a tendency toward endurance or power and their maximum level of oxygen consumption…When athletes know their risk for injury, for example, they can take preventative measures by adjusting their training routines and taking steps to ensure their rest and recovery after exertion…Collaboration between private industry and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas precision medicine initiative offers opportunities for new discoveries...

...this Walgreens isn't your usual neighborhood pharmacy…Then again, it's not in a typical neighborhood. It's on the Strip, and investors have again paid big money for the building in America's gambling and party mecca…The 1.6-acre property, on Las Vegas Boulevard at Convention Center Drive, sold for $37 million on Friday, up 33 percent from what the sellers paid in 2012.

Nevada has been facing healthcare workforce shortages for decades because of the state's rapidly growing population and expanding economy. Right now...the problem is felt both in rural and urban areas across most medical specialties..."I think the ones that trouble me the most are those that we're experiencing in primary care and behavioral health, such as psychiatrists,"...Nevada ranks 50th for the state's number of psychiatrists per capita, and the state is also struggling to have enough marriage and family therapists, alcohol and drug counselors, and clinical social workers.   (podcast 4:14min)

HCA (Hospital Corporation of America) today announced the acquisition of Urgent Care Extra’s Nevada operations, which include 14 urgent care centers in Las Vegas…The...centers join HCA’s Sunrise Health System...which includes four hospitals and four surgery centers. The purchase also includes six additional urgent care centers that are under development in the market…This acquisition adds a strong network of leading urgent care centers to our Las Vegas network and complements our presence in the market…

A local pharmacy owner says the Affordable Care Act is putting him out of business. After nearly 20 years in operation, Mike's Pharmacy in Carson City will close its doors for good on Wednesday, November 11, 2015…Mike's Pharmacy opened in Carson City in 1997 and has been a community institution ever since…"It is very hard to lose this business because of circumstances I had no control of," said Mike Hautekeet, owner of Mike’s Pharmacy…He says the trouble started with the implementation of Obamacare. It wasn't the employer obligation; his employees already had insurance. Instead Hautekeet says Obamacare changed the way pharmacies are reimbursed by insurance companies…"If my cost is too high, and they reimburse me not enough, a lot of times we lose money to fill the prescription," said Hautekeet.

Starting next year, Renown will welcome students with St. George’s University to Reno for four- to eight-week elective clinical rotations as part of their fourth and final year of training…SGU is an independent, international school of medicine in Grenada…The students, who have already completed two years of classroom and lab studies and one year of clinical rotations elsewhere in the U.S., will receive hands-on training overseen by physicians. Renown will also welcome third year medical students from SGU, but the start date for that program expansion hasn’t been announced.

Kelly McIntosh…is the…attorney presenting at the Nevada Rural Health Summit, a two-day conference bringing together industry professionals dedicated to improving quality rural health care within Nevada. McIntosh will discuss contracting and affiliation agreements at the summit, joining legislators, educators, state agency leaders, and industry executives in sharing industry resources and best practices…The Nevada Rural Health Summit will be held on Nov. 12 and 13, at the University of Nevada, Reno Redfield Campus, sponsored by The University of Nevada School of Medicine, Office of Statewide Initiatives, and Nevada Rural Hospital Partners. Other topics to be discussed during the two-day summit include legislative updates, telehealth, recruitment, and other rural health care initiatives.

Life can be hard. In fact, it can almost seem impossible for families devastated by substance abuse. However, there is hope and there are second chances…a family healing from the devastating effects of drugs, which is possible in part because of a volunteer who shines her love and support on this young family…The Senior's in Service program is seeking for more volunteers…families through drug court. "It's very rewarding. However, it can be very frustrating when you first get a client and they're angry and you get one that fails and that is very disappointing,"…If you are at least 55-years-old and would consider become a TruVista volunteer…

Reno’s two largest hospitals are gearing up to meet the medical needs of an expected population surge. In September, Renown announced a nearly $64 million investment that includes state-of-the-art technology, enlarging its Institute for Cancer building, creating an intermediate level of care between emergency medicine and hospital admission, and exploring the construction of a completely new medical center. Saint Mary’s Medical Group has invested $50 million in the past 18 months on new facilities and equipment, including the recently expanded medical clinic in northwest Reno, which opened Nov. 1. It has additional clinics and specialty facilities opening in other areas of the…(sub. req.)

…cryotherapy…treatments…have come under scrutiny after a Las Vegas spa employee was found dead last month in the chamber of a cryotherapy machine chilled by liquid nitrogen…Las Vegas police and Nevada state officials have opened investigations into the circumstances involving the death, but it has moved slowly because the industry is so new in the state that no one agency assumed responsibility for it…Nevada's chief medical officer said Tuesday that the Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance will assume responsibility for investigating complaints as the state health department takes over an expanded probe to determine whether or not the treatment itself is safe. The long review process is now only in its fact-finding stage, but Dr. Tracey Green said some form of education, regulation, scope of work agreement and/or licensure could ultimately be proposed…any rules or policies put in place in Nevada would mark some of the first regulations in the world governing cryotherapy.