As the associated multi-specialty academic medical practice of the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, UNLV Health and the school of medicine are connected in more ways than one.
For one, UNLV Health shares the same goal of making the community healthier. “Our missions are so aligned with the school of medicine. We’re here to care for the community, and we accept all forms of insurance. We accept Medicare, Medicaid, and most forms of commercial insurance,” says Joann Strobbe, president and chief executive officer of UNLV Health and executive associate dean for administration at the school of medicine. “We really have an open door to really take care of the people in Las Vegas.”
Established in 2017 by the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) as the practice plan for UNLV’s school of medicine, all of UNLV Health’s physician members are the clinical faculty of the school of medicine.
“As a practice plan, we are a separate organization from the university; we're a 501(c)(3) organization, which is a non-profit institution, and we have members as part of our agreement. So, all of the clinical faculty at the school of medicine are members of UNLV Health,” says Strobbe. “They really become the physicians seeing patients within UNLV Health and alongside all of our clinical operations, our medical students and residents [are] doing their education and their training in our clinical settings.”
It is no secret that Nevada needs more physicians to care for its growing population. One effective way to bring more physicians to the state is through having medical schools and graduate medical education (GME) programs.
“It’s critical and very important to have a medical school in a community because if you have a medical school, 30 to 40% of your graduates will stay in the state and practice medicine. If you have residencies on top of a medical school, 70 to 80% of your residents will stay in the state,” Strobbe states. “Nevada has a shortage of MDs across the board, so every training program that we have is essential to educating and training physicians and, therefore, keeping more docs in the state.”
For UNLV Health, residents and fellows are heavily involved in the care of its patients. “We have more than 325 residents and fellows and they are all physicians who are licensed in Nevada,” Strobbe says. “They are getting their advanced medical training here alongside our members to really help them define the role they want to be as a doctor, but they provide a lot of care to the UNLV Health patients. This patient care is instrumental in their training component and is critical to the care that the community receives.”
As for what she sees in the future for both the school and UNLV Health, Strobbe wants to see the expansion of clinical operations within the medical district – an ambulatory surgery center and “strong, clinical programs that include residents and new fellowships.”
“Residents and fellows gain invaluable experience when training in an academic medical enterprise,” Strobbe says. “Because our mission is so closely integrated and because we want to produce doctors that are academic scholars, UNLV is the best poised to do that.”
For more information or to schedule an appointment, please visit the UNLV Health website.
