Sunday, May 11, 2025
5/11/2025
Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - Address: Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, 2040 W Charleston Blvd., 4th Floor, Las Vegas, NV, 89102 Project Director: Laura Culley, MD Phone: Office 702-895-0325, Mobile 702-373-2442 Email: laura.culley@unlv.edu Website Address: https://www.unlv.edu/medicine The vision/mission of the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV is to create a world-class center of excellence and innovation for medical education, patient care, and research that prepares Nevada’s physicians with the most advanced knowledge, treatments, and technologies while serving the healthcare needs of our diverse community. Critical to achieving this is the need to overcome the many barriers to effective healthcare faced by those who are most vulnerable. The UNLV Mobile Clinics project is designed to address those barriers by working with community partners to bring health care, education, and social services directly into our neighborhoods. The needs of our community are many. According to The Commonwealth Fund, Nevada ranks 49th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia on state health system performance.1 Nevada performance indicators that rank well below the national average or near the bottom include access and affordability (44th), prevention and treatment (51st), avoidable hospital use and cost (40th), and disparity (36th). In recent years, indicators that have worsened include children and adults with unmet mental healthcare needs, and preventable hospitalizations in adults aged 18 to 64 have worsened. Data from the Southern Nevada Health District further support the need to address significant healthcare disparities in Clark County.2 Maternal and child health measures are also consistently worse in Southern Nevada as compared to national measures. Teen births, low infant birth rate, preterm births, late or no prenatal care, maternal education, and congenital syphilis are all significantly worse in Clark County compared to national median data. Rates of sexually transmitted illnesses, including HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis are markedly higher in Clark County compared to national means, as are annual rates of influenza and pneumonia. Other areas of concerns include suicide mortality, firearm mortality, and poor mental health. Social determinants likely contribute to higher rates of morbidity and mortality of Southern Nevadans, especially those belonging to more vulnerable populations. Measures of social determinants of health, such as median household income, poverty, unemployment, and educational attainment, are consistently worse in Clark County when compared to national data.2 A higher percentage of Southern Nevadans also lack health insurance coverage as compared to state and national measures. The UNLV Mobile Clinics project will deploy two professionally staffed, well-equipped, and versatile mobile units that will allow the Kerkorian School of Medicine, in collaboration with other UNLV professional schools and community partners, to provide a variety of interprofessional services to the public. Such services will target the many health, social, and educational needs of the local community as identified by the Southern Nevada Health District. Services will include screening and prevention, primary care, some specialty care (e.g., dental, eye), mental health care, health and wellness education, nutrition education, social services, and legal services. Population groups to be served include children, women, all adults, and geriatric populations. Services will support those who are homeless, uninsured, underinsured, underserved, or vulnerable due to socioeconomic factors. The vans will be deployed on a regular basis to urban, suburban, and rural areas of Southern Nevada. 1. https://2020scorecard.commonwealthfund.org 2. https://www.healthysouthernnevada.org/content/sites/snhd/reports/2022Update_SNHD_CHA.pdf
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).