$60M already raised for Nevada’s 1st stand-alone children’s hospital
Nevada’s first stand-alone children’s hospital is happening — with a minimum of $1 billion in facility and project costs.
While fundraising plans are still in early stages, Intermountain Health is looking to the community to help raise one-third or more of the funds for the facility, with the health care system contributing the remainder, David Flood, Intermountain Health’s chief development officer and president of the Intermountain Foundation, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“We view this as a billion-dollar campaign, and will likely be even larger than that,” said Flood.
The hospital system has already raised $60 million for the facility from “a couple of entities,” Flood said.
In October 2024, the site was unveiled for the children’s hospital, which will be built on around 34 acres at the 122-acre UNLV’s Harry Reid Research and Technology Park in the southwest valley. In rough numbers, the hospital will be 710,000 square feet with over 200 beds, Mitchell Cloward, president of Intermountain Health’s Desert Region previously told the Review-Journal.
The project is anticipated to break ground in early 2026 and open by 2030. Currently, the hospital’s design, clinical activities and workforce planning, which includes recruitment, are underway.
The hospital hopes to bring pediatric medical and surgical subspecialists to the region, including ear, nose and throat surgeons, neurosurgeons and behavioral health specialists, Cloward said.
Right now the fundraising campaign is “in its quiet phase,” Flood said, with a formal campaign to be made public within the next year. Currently, the hospital system is in talks with “key leaders and families” within the community before pushing the campaign to the public.
Last month, Bill Hornbuckle, MGM Resorts International president and CEO, and his wife, Wendy, were named co-chairs of the philanthropic push for the pediatric facility.
“It’s become the worst-kept secret,” Flood said. “We want to make sure we design and we get the right information out to people, but we’re still inviting folks now.”
For larger donors, Intermountain Health is looking at offering naming opportunities, saying it has been successful in other campaigns.
But, it is not always about those big dollar amounts, Intermountain is looking to invite “thousands and thousands of people” to donate to the children’s hospital and “be a part of history,” Flood said.
“We are going to roll out a comprehensive fundraising program for folks at all levels to give,” he said. “We want to make sure there’s something for everyone, not just those big dollars and donors.”
When fundraising does eventually become public, Intermountain is looking at a flexible fundraising model, with donors being able to choose where their dollar goes.
“These campaigns are top down, inside out,” Flood said. “This project will take someone’s dollar and amplify it and allow it to have more value in a community that they love.”
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Intermountain Health’s community fundraising goals.
Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.
