Fear and loathing healthcare in Las Vegas

Properly Subversive/Sherman R. Frederick

People of a certain vintage in Las Vegas like to gripe about the quality of healthcare here. We gather at parties, compare blood pressures, and tell each other all manner of horror stories about doctors who look like our grandchildren, phlebotomists who can’t find a vein and waiting rooms seemingly operated by the Marx Brothers.

I get it. And, while some of it is true with a small “t”, the Truth is that Vegas health care is overall pretty damn good. And, I’m the living proof. 

My father underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery in the 1980s as a relatively young man when the operation was still pretty much in its infancy. His recovery was very difficult, but he squeezed out several good years even without the drugs and advancements now available.

The early genetic warning from my father swung my attentive primary care doc in Las Vegas, Eun Mi Park, into action. She quarterbacked my care for years and referred me to cardiologist Thomas Lambert. Both were stellar watchdogs. Together they navigated me through years of watchful waiting and subsequent procedures without a significant “event” – a nice word for a heart attack. 

After 13 stents and a bypass in 2010, I added stent No. 14 on Jan. 4. It was done at Mayo in Scottsdale, where I live most of the time now.

But up to that point, all my care came from Las Vegas. My bypass was performed at Mountain View Hospital in 2010. While the procedure was certainly scary and I strongly recommend against joining the “Zipper Club” if you can, it went well. Far less hospital time and none of the complications my dad experienced 35+ years ago. Post-op care was excellent. Whenever I can, I give big thumbs up to nurses everywhere. They don’t get enough kudos for how critical they are to overall patient satisfaction. 

Anyway, when I drive by Mountain View Hospital these days, I’m reminded of how lucky I’ve been. Another day. Another column. Another year, God willing and the creek don’t rise.

All this is not to say that if we got together for cocktails one fine Sun City evening, I wouldn’t huddle and compare blood pressures with you then grouse about the indignities of modern healthcare systems. 

I’m not above that. 

But, I won’t go further other than to say that aging is scary, for sure. First thing is to find yourself a good GP – and there are many out there – and let him or her help you steer  through your aches and pains and to whatever specialists you may need along the way.

Healthcare has come a long way in Las Vegas. With the right GP, it is excellent. 

IN JANUARY

– In 1942, actress Carole Lombard, wife of actor Clark Gable, was killed in the mountain range above Sun City when her TWA DC-3 crashed.

– In 1951, the first nuclear bomb was tested at Frenchman Flat about 50 miles north of Sun City. Over the subsequent 40 years, more than 1,000 nuclear explosions were detonated at the site. 

– In 1987, the Gold Coast casino was in its first full month of operation. It was built by legendary casino owner Michael Gaughan. It was the first casino in Las Vegas to have a first-run movie theater in it. It is now owned by Boyd Gaming.

ONE MORE THING

(Sherman R. Frederick is a longtime Nevada writer and a member of the Nevada Press Association’s Hall of Fame. He can be reached at ShermFrederick@gmail.com.)