UMC Faces Difficult Future
LAS VEGAS -- University Medical Center is at a crossroads, switching leaders at a time it faces a financial crisis to stay open. Hospital CEO Kathy Silver is retiring July 1 and one of her last tasks will be to figure out how Las Vegas will be affected if UMC closed.
UMC has southern Nevada's only level 1 trauma center. With the county's public hospital giving $246 million in care to those who can't afford to pay for it, finances are at a breaking point. UMC is also facing challenges with the new health care law and Medicaid funding.
"We've also got to face up to something called value based purchasing which is something that is going to give us a score based on the quality of service we provide and patient satisfaction. That is going to affect our reimbursement rate," said UMC COO Brian Brannman.