By Brian Greenspun (contact)

Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015 | 2 a.m.

What happened to our medical school?

That is the only question I asked after Gov. Brian Sandovals State of the State speech a couple of weeks ago. I suppose when the governor talks about how we are doing, why we are doing it and what he is going to do next, and the only question is about the UNLV medical school, then it must have been a pretty good speech!

But where do we go from here? On Monday, the Nevada Legislature opens its 2015 session. Will our elected lawmakers be on good behavior? Will the Republicans, who now own both houses of the Legislature, accomplish what Democrats couldnt achieve when they were in control?

I am betting on our good governor to hold the crazies in his party tight enough so that they cant upset a good thing, which means that education, health care and myriad other infrastructure needs in our state finally will get addressed. And that the business community across the state finally steps up and is part of the investment that needs to be made. (In other states, they call that a tax increase.)

I know I am a bit late to the post-State of the State party, but it seems to me the words Sandoval spoke were the words everyone in Nevada needed to hear. It mattered not whether they were uttered by a Republican or a Democrat or some other political designation that makes people feel good about themselves. The fact is that they were words that had to be uttered and needed to be heard by all who live and work in the Silver State. Weve long needed to grow up and take responsibility for ourselves and our state.

There was, though, one area in the governors speech where I got confused. It had to do with taking advantage of the lowest-hanging fruit in feeding the long-term growth of Southern Nevada. And that would be the UNLV Medical School, which our governor told us was one of his top priorities. Thats good, because 70-plus percent of Nevadans live in the southern part of the state, and getting our own medical school is a priority.

This is where I would tell the well-worn joke about where Las Vegans go for good medical care the airport. But when UNLV has its own medical school, that joke will be history and our future will be one of high-quality medical care available to everyone who lives in this part of the state.

No more will people who can afford it have to travel to other parts of the nation for quality care. No more will people who cant afford to leave be subject to the hit-and-miss treatment and outcomes that define much of the critical needs that a population of 2 million people presents. We are the largest metropolitan area of the country without a medical school, and it is time we had one of our own!

See original here:

Governor falls short with funds for UNLV med school