Stanford, St. Rose teaming up on neurosurgery center

Stanford Hospital and Clinics, long recognized as one of the top hospitals in the United States, has formed a partnership with St. Rose Dominican Hospitals to expand its neurosurgery center in Henderson.

Neurosurgery is a specialized field of surgery for the treatment of diseases or conditions of the central nervous system and spine.

The new affiliation, which will result in the construction of a new building across from the St. Rose Dominican Hospitals-Siena campus at the corner of St. Rose Parkway and Eastern Avenue, marks the first time Stanford has ventured out of California for a clinical collaboration.

"Our collaboration with St. Rose allows us to further our mission of healing humanity through science and compassion, one patient at a time," Amir Dan Rubin, president and CEO of Stanford Hospital and Clinics, said Thursday.

This year , U.S. News & World Report named Stanford Hospital and Clinics one of the top 17 hospitals in America.

"We look forward to providing a high level of care and the expertise of Stanford physicians to St. Rose patients," said Dr. Gary Steinberg, chairman of Stanford's department of neurosurgery, which is ranked 20th nationally by the magazine.

The official announcement of both the partnership and the expansion of the St. Rose Center of Neurosurgery is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the St. Rose-Siena campus .

St. Rose officials refused comment on the partnership until Tuesday. A spokesman for its press relations firm said they didn't want to talk earlier because St. Rose hasn't told its employees yet.

Maureen Peckman, chief emerging business officer for the Cleveland Clinic, which oversees the operations and development of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, welcomed the partnership.

"I think that any time our community can attract top-level medical partners in the valley, it's a boon for patient care, boon for raising quality, a boon for everyone engaged in health care in the community," she said. "I'm looking forward to learning more details."

Local physicians, always wary of out-of-state doctors infringing on their medical practices, also want more details.

Dr. Raj Agrawal, an interventional neuroradiologist who treats brain aneurysms through minimally invasive procedures, said he hopes that Stanford doesn't try to attract patients by saying that the professionals here are bad.

That attitude, which he said the Nevada Cancer Institute voiced, won't work. He said that the criticism of local physicians by the institute resulted in physicians not referring patients to the Nevada Cancer Institute, which helped lead to its current financial troubles.

Should that attitude be present again, Agrawal suggested there could be problems for both Stanford and St. Rose in the business arena.

"I do think the town is big enough to have a big academic power," he said. "As long as they're here to be part of the community, it will be fine. But if they're going to be taking away business to Stanford, that's another story."

Though Stanford officials refused to go beyond statements released to the Review-Journal on Thursday night, a statement released by the BRAINtrust PR firm said the center to be built across from St. Rose-Siena "is staffed by Stanford faculty and physicians who are based in Las Vegas ... bringing a sought-after medical speciality to Southern Nevada."

Agrawal said it's only natural that neurosurgeons would be "afraid of losing business."

Dr. Weldon "Don" Havins, a former president of the Clark County Medical Society, said local neurosurgeons won't like the deal if Stanford is going to take many of neurosurgery cases back to California.

"The details of this are what's going to be important," Havins said.

Havins said Las Vegas is underserved in many surgical specialities, including neurosurgery, but he stressed that Las Vegas has many fine neurosurgeons.

Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2908.