Nevada’s healthcare is defined by the leadership of organizations that make up a close knit family of medical professionals, service and educational organizations and health systems. Both Allan Stipe, president of Sunrise Healthcare System, and Robert Miller, the new dean of the University of Nevada School of Medicine, are passionate about moving toward the future without losing the personal touch so necessary to compassionate care.
Allan Stipe Innovator, facilitator
Allan Stipe came to Las Vegas in 1987 from a 13-year career at Baptist Hospitals and Health Systems ~ Phoenix, Ariz.He cites the long history of leadership and the size and scope of services at Sunrise as the primary reasons he made the move to what was then Humana Hospital Sunrise and Humana Children’s Hospital. His time in Las Vegas has seen him climb the ladder from associate director to his current position of president of Sunrise Healthcare System, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, Sunrise Children’s Hospital.
Eleven years have gone by, during which the hospital system changed names and added programs and a new hospital. Stipe’s passion for what he does has not waned in the least, which is certainly partly responsible for his success. With more than 25 years of experience with non- and for-profit medical/surgical hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, managed care administration and multi-facility management, Stipe credits his achievements to outstanding staff members and an environment favorable to creativity and innovation. It is this spirit that has seen the birth of Nevada’s only children’s hospital (Sunrise Children’s Hospital) and a wide array of services that allow children to stay in their community while receiving the kind of care they need.
Stipe says Sunrise is on a strong course of continuing to develop new services for both children and adults. One of his key objectives is to make sure the system effectively communicates to a rapidly growing community the kinds and quality of services offered in his hospitals in Las Vegas. The Sunrise System has enjoyed 40 years of a strong reputation in leadership in bringing on new programs and technology. The addition of Mountain View Hospital in 1996 has helped provide more community-based medicine, while promoting widespread innovation. Among Sunrise’s offerings are neonatal care, open-heart surgery and pediatric oncology, ensuring the system’s reputation will only continue to grow.
But it is not only the opportunities to provide leadership to such a dynamic system that keep Stipe in Nevada ‘The lifestyle is something I can relate to very well,” he says. “I enjoy the outdoor activities. And it’s been a great experience. My children have grown up here and gone to school here, and I just love living in Las Vegas.”
Robert Miller, MD, MBA A new dean for the new millennium
Come November l, the University of Nevada, Reno’s School of Medicine will see a new dean, hailing from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, La. Nevada Business Journal spoke with incoming dean Robert Miller to discover how he sees the future of the school in a Nevada-wide context.
NBJ: What is bringing you to Nevada from Tulane? Miiier. First is the state. I enjoy the geography and the climate and the features Nevada has to offer. I honeymooned in Lake Tahoe and for six or seven years had a condo there. Then when I learned more about the medical school and some of the opportunities that are there, some of the strengths that you have and the opportunities for growth, I think that really intrigued me a great deal.
NBJ: What are some of those opportunities? Miller: You have a very strong medical school. It’s a small school, it’s a new school, but you have a very good basic science program, you’ve got a strong clinical program both in Reno and in Las Vegas.
There’s a strong history of a community based medical school, particularly in Reno. And there was a primary care emphasis. I think the opportunities for growth are to take the medical school to the next step as a real academic medical center. I think you’ve got a really strong research health program in Reno and that’s something we’ll want to build on. But I think with the land and potential for growth in Las Vegas, it certainly makes a lot of sense to develop a research operation in Las Vegas.
NBJ: What do you see as the role in the community of a medical school? Miller: The medical school educates the
citizens of Nevada to be doctors – or the select few. About 50 a year. So it’s an educational resource. I think the other role in
the community is that it does provide cutting edge biomedical research, and the spin-offs from that benefit the community.
The medical school is also involved a lot in rural health provision, which is a real issue in Nevada.
NBJ: What are some of the problems facing the medical school? Miller: You have a very solid medical school. The issue of diminished resources in healthcare is faced by all academic medical centers. Payment of clinical care has diminished, and that makes it difficult to subsidize research and education. Also, physicians have traditionally treated illness once it’s there. I think we need to be more proactive in trying to prevent disease from occurring.
