Publisher's Note Summer 2018
Max & Joanne Friedland
Brazyl Ward was tragically struck by a hit-and-run driver while trick-or-treating with her parents on Halloween 2013. The six-year-old who had a slim chance of surviving required multiple surgeries and was put in a medically induced coma for an extended period to allow her body to rest and heal. Thanks to the specialized care she received from the team led by Dr. Meena Vohra at Children’s Hospital of Nevada at UMC, she is now back on her little feet, with a smile on her face and a song in her heart! See her on this month’s cover with Dr. Vohra and her mother, Tiffany Ward.
Children’s Hospital of Nevada at UMC gives children like Brazyl the opportunity to make a miraculous recovery. Staffed around-the-clock by Board Certified and Fellowship Trained Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Physicians, UMC provides the highest level of care to children in Nevada.
This month regular contributor Lynn Wexler gets personal as she writes about her own experience with the medical, industrial complex. In the national health care debate, we often focus on the politics, not the person, or how individuals and families cope. In My Fight, pages 28-31, she shares the struggles she has faced in getting her daughter, who has type I diabetes, the critical medical care she needs.
In High Heat Warning, pages 32-35, Scott Kerbs interviews Dr. Syed Saquib, Medical Director of the UMC Lions Burn Care Center. This year UMC has seen a rise in heat-related injuries and other conditions. With record temperatures expected, the Center has rolled out a public interest campaign aimed at educating Las Vegans about the risks of extreme climate conditions.
Roseman University of Health Sciences and Cure 4 The Kids Foundation have initiated a unique collaboration. In Joining Forces, pages 42-45, Rob Kachelreiss explores the motivation behind this development and the impact it promises to have on pediatric cancer care in Southern Nevada.
Our unique feature this month focuses on the efforts our civic leaders have made to provide 21st-century medical care right here in Las Vegas. In Las Vegas Medical District, pages 46-51, we interview the individuals involved in this pioneering endeavor. They expect that McCarran International Airport will be getting less traffic from those seeking expert medical care.
In its first year, UNLV School of Medicine received the distinction of being rated one of the most diverse medical schools in the country. In Medical Marvels, pages 52-56, we profile two second-year students and one faculty member. A central component of the strategic planning for the school included a commitment to community development and the promotion of homegrown talent. In their narratives, these three individuals elegantly represent the success of this approach and explain why the school is garnering all that attention.
It has been a great privilege and pleasure to cover Southern Nevada medicine in this publication. My take away is as follows; Las Vegas has always been referred to as a frontier town; finally, it begins to have medical institutions that challenge the frontiers of medical science as well.
As always listen to the good doctor, be sure to cover your heads and your feet, drink a lot of water and stay COOL. You can always fan yourself with this magazine; see you in the racks.
Max D. Friedland
max@davidlv.com