Las Vegas casino boss, wife to lead fundraising effort for Southern Nevada children’s hospital

Two prominent Las Vegas community figures are lending their names to an ambitious fundraising campaign to build Southern Nevada’s first stand-alone children’s hospital.

MGM Resorts International President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle and his wife, Wendy, have been named co-chairs of the Nevada Campaign for Kids, a philanthropic push to support construction of Southern Nevada’s first stand-alone children’s hospital.

During a press event Monday morning inside The Mansion at MGM Grand hotel-casino, the Hornbuckles said they wanted to get involved “in order to make a difference of scale.”

The Nevada Campaign for Kids initiative is being organized through the Intermountain Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Intermountain Health, and aims to generate funds for the planned $1 billion pediatric facility in Las Vegas. The project is expected to break ground in 2026 at UNLV’s Harry Reid Research and Technology Park.

“We’re proud to support Intermountain Health’s vision for healthy children in Nevada, and to help rally our community around this vital cause,” Bill Hornbuckle said. “Like the health of our children, this campaign is bigger than one organization; it’s an investment in Nevada’s families, our friends and neighbors, our future workforce, families, and economic development. It will change lives, and it takes a community to do it.”

Nevada ranks 48th in the nation for pediatricians per capita, Intermountain said, and Las Vegas is the only metro area in the country with a population of at least 2 million without a freestanding children’s hospital. In 2023, more than 29,000 children traveled outside of Nevada for comprehensive specialty care, according to the health care provider.

Wendy Hornbuckle said it was time to “go to work,” to ensure that those Nevada families had a viable health care option closer to home.

“As parents and proud Nevadans, we know there’s nothing more important than a child’s health, and we are inspired by Intermountain’s vision to create a place of healing and hope for children and their families,” she said.

Intermountain officials hope to open the children’s hospital by 2030.

“Nevada elected officials, the health care community, and local leaders have been aware for many years of the need to bring a comprehensive children’s hospital to Las Vegas and improve health for children overall,” said Mitch Cloward, president of Intermountain Health’s Desert Region, which includes Southern Nevada and southwest Utah.

The hospital is expected to create more than $841 million in annual economic output, according to an independent research study conducted by Applied Analysis. Officials said the hospital will create roughly 1,300 jobs.

David Flood, president of Intermountain Foundation and chief development officer of Intermountain Health, said that, “With the Hornbuckles’ trusted leadership and guidance, we will make transformative health care possible and accessible to every child in Nevada. Together, we will make history while impacting generations.”

Contact David Danzis at ddanzis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0378. Follow @AC2Vegas_Danzis on X.