Las Vegas: Health Care

Among the 11 major hospitals serving the area is the Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center. With about 700 beds and 1,400 physicians, it maintains a 145-bed children's hospital along with centers for renal transplants, sleep disorders, and epilepsy. Affiliated with the University of Nevada School of Medicine, the University Medical Center (UMC) was named in 2004 among the top 50 hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for neurosurgery and neurology along with being the state's sole hospital on the annual "America's Best Hospitals" list. UMC's Lions Burn Care Center, the only such facility in Nevada, has gained national recognition; the center also maintains a free-standing trauma center and the state's first pediatric emergency department. Mountain View Hospital features 235 beds and 1,200 physicians while the Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center has 286 beds and is the only diabetes treatment center in the area accredited by the American Diabetes Association. In addition to its 409 beds and more than 2,800 staff members, Valley Hospital Medical Center also operates "Flight for Life," an emergency helicopter service for a wide area surrounding Las Vegas. The University of Nevada School of Medicine's Genetics Program, based in Las Vegas, offers counseling to prospective parents about inherited diseases and provides clinical care to children with birth defects.