Annual Pub 2024 accessible 07262024 (1) - Flipbook - Page 12
K I R K K E R K O R I A N S C H O O L O F M E D I C I N E A T U N LV
WHAT IS AN
ACADEMIC
HEALTH CENTER?
BY DEAN M ARC J. KAHN
evada has increased its population every year
between 2010 and 2022 with 14 percent population
growth in 2022. Unfortunately, Nevada9s healthcare
infrastructure is woefully inadequate to support the
population and ranks 44th for access to healthcare,
42nd in health outcomes, 45th in the number of
physicians per 100,000, and 49th for the number of primary care
and surgeons per capita.
N
ADOBE STOCK
Nevada also lags far behind in health services for vulnerable
populations. As one example, every state has a cleft palate and
craniofacial healthcare services program except Alaska and
Nevada.
of Sciences, the university is at the core of an AHC, striving for
excellence in education, community engagement, and research.
AHC participation does not preclude member institutions from
pursuing other outside partnerships.
Although AHCs account for only about ove percent of all hospitals,
they deliver a disproportionate amount of care for:
»
Medicare and Medicaid patients
»
Uninsured individuals
»
Transfer of patients with complex needs
»
Trauma and burn patients
»
Cancer patients
In an effort to improve the state of healthcare in Nevada and
speciocally Southern Nevada, UNLV has made the development
of an academic health center (AHC) a strategic priority. An AHC, as
deoned by various national organizations, consists of an allopathic
or osteopathic medical school, at least one other health profession
school or program, and at least one aïliated or owned teaching
hospital. AHCs are traditionally focused on providing the highest
standards of clinical care and treating the most complex illnesses,
conducting clinical, laboratory, and health sciences research,
educating future health professionals, and engaging with the
community. The terms academic health center and academic
medical center are often interchangeable, but because an AHC
represents a medical school and other health professions, we
prefer the term AHC at UNLV.
With the breadth and depth of healthcare services an AHC brings
to a community, the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV
and its associated clinical practice, UNLV Health, are proud to
partner with the UNLV Schools of Nursing, Public Health, Dental
Medicine, Integrative Health Sciences, the other UNLV behavioral
health programs, and the University Medical Center of Southern
Nevada (UMC) to provide Southern Nevada the AHC it deserves.
AHCs typically represent the concerted efforts of multiple
universities, programs, and/or hospitals to improve the care
of a community through research, education, patient care, and
community engagement. According to the National Academy
Already, the UNLV AHC has obtained over $1 million of state
appropriations to support its mission and racked up over $11
million in research expenditures and $38 million in research
awards. Together, we have produced over 320 publications per
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Together, we are focused on developing coordinated plans
for education, community engagement, and research, while
providing opportunities for collaboration, information sharing on
best practices, and ongoing discussions of research directed at
community needs. Interprofessional education programs continue
to be expanded as we focus on improving care coordination.
