Hospital exec climbs ladder in Summerlin

Summerlin resident Tim Hingtgen started in the marketing department of the Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, which opened in 1997, and worked his way up to chief executive officer and managing director of the 281-bed facility. The hospital is undergoing a $100 million expansion to keep pace with the growth of Summerlin and neighboring communities.

It took seven years for Hingtgen, an Iowa native, to rise through the ranks at Universal Health Services to become chief executive of Summerlin Hospital.

Hingtgen, along with wife, Karen, and daughters, Hannah and Haley, have called Summerlin home more than once. The family lived in The Trails Village for four years, and then moved to Charlestown, Ind. In 2004, the family moved back to Summerlin, this time in The Pueblo Village. Haley attends Becker Middle School and Hannah attends Richard H. Bryan Elementary School.

"Summerlin has always felt like home," said Hingtgen, of the community where he both lives and works. "Go figure. Las Vegas is the largest city I've ever lived in, yet I enjoy the shortest commute here. Living five minutes from the office is a great perk of the job."

The Hingtgens, who all enjoy an active, healthy lifestyle, use the trails daily. "The massive trails in The Pueblo Village are especially appealing to us," Hingtgen said. "We consider them an extension of our own backyard."

Daughter Hannah has been active in the American Youth Soccer Association and said she appreciates Summerlin's numerous athletic fields and parks.

"If you're bored in Summerlin it's your own fault," said 13-year-old Haley. "There's so much to do here, I can't imagine living anywhere else in Las Vegas."

Hingtgen is overseeing the hospital's largest expansion project in its 10-year history.

Included in this expansion is a new six-story, 170-room patient tower, four-story medical office building, an expanded emergency room and a third parking garage. Construction on the new tower is expected to begin this winter, bringing the total number of patient beds to 450.

The tower is designed with additional shell space for future growth. The emergency room expansion will more than double the hospital's current emergency room and will add 30 more beds and treatment areas, a dedicated radiology X-ray suite and CT scanner. The expansion project will be completed in phases with the expanded emergency room and parking garage scheduled to open summer 2008.

"Since 1997 when Summerlin Hospital first opened, the community's population has quadrupled to nearly 100,000 residents," Hingtgen said. "The hospital has grown right alongside the community thanks to our master plan that is designed to keep pace not only with the population, but also with advances in the medical industry."

"Health care is an important amenity in our community that significantly contributes to the well-being of Summerlin residents," said Tom Warden, vice president of community and government relations for The Howard Hughes Corp., developer of Summerlin. "It's comforting to know that high quality health care is available minutes from home."

Summerlin Hospital Medical Center is located on 40 acres in The Crossing Village in Summerlin. The 400,000-square-foot facility offers programs such as The BirthPlace maternity unit, The Cancer Institute of Nevada, neonatal intensive care unit, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation programs, a women's health program, wound care program, 24-hour emergency services and one of the largest acute-hospital rehabilitation facilities in Las Vegas at The RehabCenter.

Summerlin began to take shape in 1990 and is located along the western rim of the Las Vegas Valley.

The a 22,500-acre master-planned community community features amenities and is currently home to more than 95,000 residents. With about 7,500 acres still to develop, including its urban core, Summerlin Centre, Summerlin is continuing to unfold.

Summerlin is home to more than 100 neighborhood and village parks, more than 150 completed miles of the Summerlin trail system, nine golf courses, a dozen houses of worship, shopping centers, medical and cultural facilities, business parks, 22 public and private schools and more than 100 actively selling floor plans.

Homes are available in a variety of styles -- from single-family homes to townhomes, condominiums and lofts -- priced from the high $200,000s to more than $2 million. Custom home sites in The Ridges are priced from the $500,000s.

Luxury apartment homes offer monthly rents starting from the $800s.

For more information on Summerlin, visit summerlin.com or call 888-898-5015.