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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

UMC Announces Opening of Wellness Center at New Location

University Medical Center is announcing the opening of the Wellness Center at its new location, 701 Shadow Lane, Suite 200, Las Vegas. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held on World AIDS Day, Monday, Dec. 1, at 11 a.m., in front of the building housing the new center. Clark County Commissioner and Commission Chairman Rory Reid, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, former Mayor Jan Jones, senior vice-president of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., Dr. Jerry Cade, director, UMC HIV Service, and a Las Vegas Strip headliner are expected to attend. From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., the center will be the site of a reception celebrating the opening at the new location. A brief ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. to recognize special guests and supporters of the center. Attendees are welcome to take a tour of the facility.

University Medical Center’s Wellness Center opened in 1986 with five patients in a converted hospital room. The clinic was created to provide HIV-infected Las Vegans access to the-then experimental drug, AZT. The 701 Shadow Lane office is the sixth location for the UMC Wellness Center. Center staff members care for 2,000 Southern Nevadans with HIV/AIDS.

“The theme for World AIDS Day 2008 is ‘leadership’ and I cannot think of a more apt description of the staff members and supporters of the UMC Wellness Center,” said Commissioner Lawrence Weekly, in whose district the center is located.

Commissioner Reid agreed: “Through the power of their knowledge and real caring for people they have made a positive difference for Southern Nevadans living with HIV/AIDs.”

“Our goal at the Wellness Center is to ensure that our patients are provided with high-quality medical care delivered in a compassionate and caring environment,” explained Dr. Jerry Cade. “Along with my colleagues, I am proud to continue UMC’s longstanding commitment, over 23 years in fact, of being at the forefront of fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Clark County.”

Dr. Cade continued, “Unfortunately, Nevada has one of the highest rates of HIV-infection in the country on a per capita basis. HIV-infection among women in Nevada is higher than most states west of the Mississippi including California. By embracing these challenges early on, UMC helped to ensure that Southern Nevadans get the care they need while helping to keep this epidemic from spreading even further.”

The Wellness Center provides comprehensive care for adults living with HIV/AIDS including care for HIV-infected pregnant women. The new 10,000 square foot facility has 11 medical treatment rooms. The Center has a special area for infusion therapies as well as on-site psychiatric care. The new Wellness Center is located in the same facility as Aid for AIDS of Nevada (AFAN), Southern Nevada’s oldest and largest AIDS Services Organization. With this arrangement, HIV-infected individuals have easy access to both their healthcare and social services needs.

Additionally, the UMC Wellness Center serves as the HIV/AIDS clinical research hub for Southern Nevada. The Center conducts in-house clinical trials for promising new HIV therapies and functions as the headquarters for community-wide research regarding HIV/AIDS clinical studies. Additional research endeavors include behavioral and psychosocial problems affecting persons living with HIV/AIDS. The Wellness Center’s research entity has the distinction of being chosen as one of the 60 United States sites to test the first-ever HIV vaccine. UMC offers HIV/AIDS clinical research through the Nevada AIDS Research and Education Society (NARES). NARES is a non-profit organization and community-based research consortium providing healthcare research and education.

The UMC Wellness Center’s office hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. To contact the staff, please call (702) 383-2691.

About UMC:
UMC is the only public, non-profit hospital in Clark County and operates the state’s only Level I Trauma Center, Level II Pediatric Trauma, and Lions Burn Care Center. The hospital offers the highest level of care in a 10,000 square mile radius. UMC is affiliated with the University of Nevada School of Medicine and serves as the state’s major clinical campus. Through its affiliation with the School of Medicine, residency programs in emergency medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, family practice, general surgery and pediatrics are offered at UMC. UMC operates several Quick Care and Primary Care clinics around Clark County. UMC has a state-of-the-art Picture Archiving and Communication System. Several specialty service lines including orthopedics, pediatrics, neonatology, cardiology, neurology, and oncology, among others, are available at the hospital. Visit www.umcsn.com for more information.

Contact Information:
Tammy McMahan
(702) 383-3617
Tammy.McMahan@umcsn.com
University Medical Center
1800 West Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89102