LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Though the future standalone children’s hospital in the Las Vegas Valley will not be completed until 2030, the new president of Nevada Children’s Hospital explains why the work to recruit hundreds of doctors begins now– and takes years.

FOX5 exclusively sat down with Russ Williams, the new president of Nevada Children’s Hospital for Intermountain Children’s Health.

Though Williams has been in the Las Vegas Valley for around eight weeks, he’s heard numerous stories from doctors and families of the lengths they travel to obtain care.

According to research firm Applied Analysis, 29,000 children must travel out of state annually for health care; Nevada ranks 48th in the nation for pediatricians per capita, according to the Intermountain Foundation.

“It should be very rare in a city the size of Las Vegas that a child should ever have to leave for care-and we are building a children’s health care destination,” Williams said. “We actually are bringing services to the market right now-anything we can do to provide care as close to home as possible, and then provide that full service, full coordinated care,” he said.

The new hospital will require 200 doctors and a total of 2,000 staff members with a variety of specialties, and recruiting has already begun, in order of focus (subject to change):

• Neurosurgery, Neurology, Cardiology, Orthopedics & Rehab; Hematology/Oncology, General Surgery (2025-2030+)
• Psychiatry, Endocrinology, ENT, Nephrology, Gastroenterology, Anesthesia (2026-2030+)
• Infectious Disease, CV Surgery, Pulmonology, Emergency Medicine, Hospital Medicine, Intensivists, Neonatology (2027-2030+)
• Genetics, Plastic Surgery, and continued Emergency Medicine, Hospitalists, Intensivists and Neonatology (2028-2030+)
• Palliative Care, Ophthalmology, Sleep Medicine, Urology, Allergy & Immunology, Derm, Dental, Rheumatology, other (2029-2030+)

Pediatricians and doctors across the Las Vegas Valley weighed in: what specialists do most children need, right now?

“There are some subspecialties where there are virtually nobody in market, and then there are some where we have wonderful subspecialists– we just need two or three more of them,” he said.

“We have heard from the general pediatricians of where they have some of the bigger challenges of getting patients in, in a timely manner- and so these are the areas where we’re actively recruiting: child psychiatry, pediatric rheumatology, pediatric endocrinology, pediatric neurology, pediatric pulmonary, and pediatric genetics. And then we actually were this close to onboarding a geneticist as well–again, so that the children that are here get that care without having to go anywhere,” Williams said.

While new building space is being built for new providers and services, such as the 90,000 square-foot Badura Clinic set to open on July 30, other hospitals are stepping up with partnerships.

“Dignity has reached out to us as a place where they would welcome our subspecialists to practice, knowing full well that we’re going to build a beautiful hospital and they’ll, you know, move over to that at the point in time. We’ve really been pretty broadly embraced by the community so that we can appropriately deliver as much of the care right now, pre-hospital, and then build to the moment when we can cut the ribbon and start seeing children in the new hospital,” he said.

Ties to a Nevada lithium mine are causing investors in one of the nation’s top auto manufacturers to push for shareholder action on what they see as violations of Native American rights.

That includes Sister Susan Francois, a Catholic nun and assistant congregation leader at the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace in New Jersey, who is calling for General Motors to issue a report on its operational conflicts with Indigenous sovereignty.

“It’s injury upon injury,” Francois said in a Thursday interview about the Thacker Pass mine near the Nevada-Oregon border. “It limits their ability to collect their traditional medicine, to have access to the hunting grounds, to have ceremonies. That is just something that breaks my heart.”

Detroit-based General Motors, which is behind brands such as Chevrolet, Buick and GMC, is the joint partner of Lithium Americas, the Canadian company building the mine.

In 2024, it committed $625 million to obtain a 38 percent stake in the mine. For the first 20 years of the mine’s life, the automaker will obtain 100 percent of the lithium produced in the first phase to manufacture electric vehicle batteries.

Requesting an analysis

Francois’ church, with at least $25,000 invested in General Motors shares, proposed the shareholders adopt a resolution that the company will discuss at a Tuesday meeting.

In it, they ask the company to publish a report evaluating the effectiveness of its policies in recognizing the U.N.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which contends Native Americans should be given the opportunity to provide or revoke consent for extractive projects that impact their homelands.

The declaration is not binding in the United States, though President Barack Obama signed on in 2010 and federal agencies contend its often limited outreach is sufficient according to the country’s interpretation.

The resolution cites separate Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reports that reached similar conclusions that Native Americans were not properly consulted before the Bureau of Land Management issued federal permits allowing construction of Thacker Pass to begin.

In response, the company’s board recommended the resolution’s denial, affirming that international human rights standards for Native American consent are already incorporated into its human rights framework. A company spokesman referred the Las Vegas Review-Journal back to that reply when asked for comment.

Francois pointed to a previous effort to compel Citibank to issue a similar report. While successful, Francois said she was disappointed that they did not consult Native Americans sufficiently in the creation of it.

“They have statements that they respect Indigenous peoples’ rights through their supply chains, but this Thacker Pass scenario shows that, obviously, it’s broken,” Francois said.

‘Simply being a voice’

Building a lithium mine in the so-called McDermitt Caldera region has stirred controversy among Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone tribal members, who remain divided on what is worth sacrificing to bring economic development.

Several tribes unsuccessfully sued the Bureau of Land Management over its approval of the mine, contending that the mine would be built on the site of a 19th century U.S. Cavalry massacre. A federal judge did not side with the tribes, but did acknowledge their “broader equitable and historical arguments.”

Lithium Americas spokesman Tim Crowley said evidence shows the massacre occurred miles away from the project site, and that the court found the company complied with all consultation standards set by law.

Chanda Callao, who co-founded the People of Red Mountain group that still protests the mine’s construction, said in a brief interview that her organization isn’t expressing its support for the resolution yet. Rather, Callao and other tribal members are taking the opportunity to, again, spotlight what they feel is injustice.

Reports from human rights organizations have been validating to the group’s mission, she said.

“We are just simply being a voice in telling GM that they’re violating human rights,” Callao said.

Francois said at the very least, she is proud that the church is prompting conversations. She said Catholics have a moral obligation to advocate against the harms of yesterday, particularly following Pope Francis’ public statements that American colonialism perpetuated grave sins against Native people.

Going forward, it is also about protecting investments, which could be jeopardized by permitting delays should General Motors not straighten out its policies, Francois said.

“I’m a woman of faith, so I pray that hearts are moved and that we realize that not only is this the moral thing to do, it’s also good business,” Francois said.

Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — More than 20 dogs rescued from an RV hoarding case in Mesquite, Nevada, have been taken to Utah, where 10 have already found their forever homes.

The Humane Society of Utah took in 21 of the more than 100 neglected dogs recovered after a monthlong animal welfare investigation.

On Sunday, 13 of the dogs were made available for adoption. All but three found new families. The dogs ranged in age from 3 months old to much older.

“These guys were actually quite friendly, and they were in a little bit better health than we have seen in past cases. Of course, they all needed to be groomed, and some had minor skin ailments, but we’re making sure they’re all getting the veterinary care that they need,” said Guinn Shuster, director of marketing and communications for the Humane Society of Utah.

The Humane Society said the remaining dogs would be available for adoption Monday and throughout the first week of June.

More than 100 dogs were recovered and two people were arrested following a months-long animal welfare investigation in Mesquite, Nevada. (Photo: Mesquite Police Department)

Giustino Laudando and Michelle Santos, who lived in the RV, were both booked on eight felony counts of animal cruelty and more than 100 misdemeanor counts of animal neglect.

“The way these dogs found the help that they needed is because community members saw how they were being kept and treated, and they spoke up. It took a little bit of time for action to be taken, but it was,” Shuster said.

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