What are the state's biggest needs when it comes to pediatric healthcare, and is Nevada ready for its first standalone children's hospital?

That's this week on Nevada Week.

♪♪ Support for Nevada Week is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt.

-Welcome to Nevada Week.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

Considered one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, we speak with long-time Las Vegas local Greg Maddux, who's looking to raise a lot of money for the Baller Dream Foundation.

That's ahead, but we begin with children's healthcare in Nevada-- how it's improved, what it still lacks, and what legislation could impact it.

For that, we bring in Dr. Joseph Lasky, Medical Director at Cure 4 The Kids Foundation; Dr. Mark Nunes, Director of Genetics at Cure 4 The Kids Foundation; and Lawrence Barnard, President of the future Intermountain Health Nevada Children's Hospital.

And that is where I want to start, because it's important that we say "standalone hospital," right?

-Yes.

-And why is that?

(Lawrence Barnard) If you look at a standalone and a dedicated children's hospital, it really is a focal point of all of the pediatric care in the city.

You have physicians currently going to different facilities that might not run into each other during the rounding.

And so creating something like this children's hospital is going to give the opportunity for physicians to work closely together, to talk about different cases, to talk about the future of their different disciplines.

You add in research and then you put in graduate medical education, and it's really needed in this, in this valley.

-You did work for UMC at one point?

-Yes.

-And they have a children's hospital?

-Yes.

-But this is better, in addition to the collaboration, because?

-Well, I think that's kind of the point of this is really the children's hospital, the intent of it is to work with everyone in the community already.

We have some really great providers.

We have a lot of things that are going really well for us, but having a place dedicated to only children will make the difference in a lot of cases.

Right now we have-- like in the OR, there are nurses that have to take care of adult orthopedics and then turn around and look at pediatric orthopedics.

And having more of a specialization and focus on just children is what really is going to help us increase the capabilities of the entire state, actually.

-Okay.

We have increased--we, being Nevada--in terms of genetics.

You were able to bring in Dr. Nunes, the first state-- the state's first family geneticist.

How difficult was that process, Dr. Lasky?

(Dr. Joseph Lasky) I mean, I would say it's been since 2008 in the making, so many, many years when Annette Logan-Parker, our founder, you know, first started Cure 4 The Kids clinic back then.

And we, even back then, had patients with metabolic diseases that we were caring for, but we had to call the geneticists of Utah or in California to help manage them.

But these were patients who were local, who lived in Las Vegas and needed their care here.

And we helped facilitate their infusions and some of the complicated treatments they needed, but, still, the brainpower behind the management of those was not in the state.

And so it's, you know, over that time, we were able to get some traveling geneticists to, you know, who, you know, were primarily at Utah or UCLA to come and visit once or twice a month.

But still, that was really not adequate care for these kids with really complicated genetic diseases.

And now that we have our own local geneticist full time, it's just going to make managing those patients so much better for them.

And again, the collaboration is just working great.

-Dr. Nunes, why would someone need a geneticist in the first place?

(Dr. Mark Nunes) Well, genetics is complicated, even for physicians.

It's considered one of the harder areas to understand--the options for testing, interpreting the genetic tests, the interaction of genes and environmental influences.

So I think genetics is important in finding answers for children with multiple congenital anomalies and families with rare disorders.

So currently, we're completing the decade of the diagnostic odyssey, but we've had about 10 years in which our diagnostic yield has gone routinely, from when I see a child that I know has a genetic condition, from about 10 to 15% chance of finding an answer to around 40 to 45% chance of finding an answer.

The service that we provide to families in finding these answers is increasingly more difficult and more complex, and finding an answer often opens up additional questions.

And so we're starting to move into the decade of treating genetic diagnoses, and that's one of the reasons that I've come to Cure 4 The Kids, you know, for this exciting period of time where, where all of a sudden genetic diagnoses that when I was training to be a geneticist didn't have a treatment or cure and nobody could imagine a treatment or a cure now have therapies and cures for them.

-Wow.

But did you just say that it's getting more difficult to diagnose or... -Not difficult to diagnose.

It's difficult to get access to diagnosis.

And so we don't have that.

We don't have genetic providers in the state who are able to help families access somebody that's able to order the appropriate test.

It's one of the reasons that we're really excited that SB 189, a bill for genetic counseling licensure, has made its way to the Governor's desk.

That bill, you know, providing allowing genetic counselors to practice as health-- independent healthcare providers in collaboration with a physician like myself, extends that access for families so that they can get the testing that they need in order to come to that diagnosis.

-Larry, you told me off camera how needed his position is.

What else is needed in Nevada for your particular hospital, and how is recruiting going?

There is a tremendous healthcare shortage.

-Definitely.

It is the one thing that kind of keeps me up at night.

You know, when it was about building the facility, I was like, this is going to be the hardest thing.

As soon as we moved on that, then it went from that being the hardest thing to, how are we going to get the staff and physicians into this?

It has been going well.

I think that a brand new children's hospital brings people interest.

They want to be a part of something new.

It's a potential for them to take all of their learnings and create something fresh and something different, and we've got a lot of that.

There are still some challenges.

-What are those?

-Well, unfortunately, people still think we all live on the Strip and we eat at buffets.

I think getting them here, once they're here, they start to see the beauty of it.

We've been partnering with different people in the community, having physicians speak with other doctors that have come here to talk about their experiences.

But getting them in the door is always that question of, you know, is Vegas where I want to practice?

Is it a place I want to raise my family?

And I think that we've done a really good job of changing that narrative, but we still have a little ways to go.

-And, you know, and I think going back to the original question, I think sometimes those difficulties and perceived fragmentation and maybe perceived lack of collaboration amongst the physicians in this community are what keep other physicians from coming in.

And I think just the act of potentially having a place that truly is a freestanding children's hospital dedicated to pediatric and rare disease care is going to help bring those physicians into the community.

-Please, go ahead.

-I think that us having that children's hospital will be a milestone to show everyone that this is a focus for us.

And right now we do provide care, but having it very focused and dedicated in a certain place, I think, marks a disembarkment from where we normally go for this.

And I'm not a physician, but I appreciate you calling me one.

I just-- having a beard and the white in it might give me the look of wisdom, but I-- and I'd love for you guys to chime in on this.

But in my mind, if I were a physician coming into a new city, I want to know that that city supports what I'm doing, that the other physicians support me, and that they want collaboration.

I, you know, I know that he's going to be able to come up with some diagnoses under the genetics piece and oncology, but that's just a part of the journey, and it is a long journey.

So I love your odyssey piece.

These parents are looking at multiple comorbidities, multiple diagnoses, and it's not just a doctor, it is a whole team of people coming around and helping these families navigate through that.

And I think having the hospital shows physicians that potentially could come in that we are dedicated to this.

-I think it brings the game to the next level, you know?

So in addition to providing graduate medical education, treating future generations of pediatricians and emergency room doctors and intensivists, we're also-- a freestanding children's hospital is going to be a focus for continuing medical education in the community.

So you bring in experts to talk about things, you talk about the new standard of care in a certain area, whether it be gastroenterology or infectious disease, and you're bringing the practice level of those pediatricians in the community up to a higher level by engaging in these dialogs.

So it really becomes a nice focal point for providing the highest standard of care.

-It improves the reputation and, in turn, will attract more people.

But what did Dr. Lasky tell you to get you here?

-Well, I think that it was more the environment than anything else.

You always want to go someplace where you can make a difference, where you can teach a little bit--that's a passion of mine--but also where you can have some fun, where the people that you're working with are collegial, that at the end of the day that you can have a beer with them or at the beginning of the day you can share a coffee, and you know that you're sharing, you know, sharing these experiences.

So I think, from the standpoint of making a difference, I had lived through the decade of the diagnostic odyssey, and that will continue for the families that I care for, but going to a place where you actually could make a difference in treating those genetic diagnoses is really a fantastic opportunity.

And that only expands with a freestanding pediatric hospital, the ability to kind of have the facility to do bone marrow transplant and stem cell therapies for, you know, for families and patients.

It only increases, you know, with that -Well, that makes me think of another piece of legislation that I'm not so sure is going to pass this session, but it is for a stem cell and bone marrow transplant program for pediatrics.

What would you say to lawmakers who are on the fence about this?

-Right.

I think a lot of this has been already talked about at the legislative level, but I'll just reiterate that, you know, even though we in the-- I'll start with pediatric leukemias, which we cure nearly 90% of, and that includes the ALLs and the AMLs, but that still leaves 10% of, you know, probably a good 5,000 kids per year, at least in the U.S., who relapse from that disease.

And almost all of those kids with relapsed leukemia require bone marrow transplant as a curative option.

Chemotherapy a second time oftentimes does not work.

And so we have a significant population of patients who relapse from leukemia, unfortunately, and we do not offer curative, allogeneic bone marrow transplantation here in Nevada.

And so we have had to send out hundreds of kids now over the last few years to receive those life-saving therapies at other hospitals in the area, not in the state of Nevada, and that's costing at least our Medicaid population, you know, at least $7 million to get those kids out of state just to receive that curative care.

And so if we can develop that program here and get it up and running, we'll be able to keep those kids in state, those families won't have to travel to other cities and live there for three months at a time.

They'll be able to stay in their homes here in Nevada, which will impact their jobs a lot less, impact their children's education a lot less, and is just going to be much more appropriate care for these families suffering, you know, with these children with devastating diseases.

And that's just about oncology.

That doesn't count the children who have complex genetic diseases that you know might be cured by some forms of gene therapy now, but, oftentimes, bone marrow transplant is the only way of curing some of those diseases as well.

There are also, you know, a number of other genetic diseases, such as sickle cell disease, that although, again, there is a gene therapy that's available now for that.

It may not be right for all patients, and it may still be bone marrow transplantation that is the right therapy for those children as well.

And again, we're not offering that in Nevada yet, but I think having the means and the money to try to get a program up and running is really necessary to help those families.

-You bring up something about sending patients out of state.

Larry, that is one of the rumors, I believe, you told me that you are addressing, people think this new children's hospital is just going to be sending children out of state.

-Yes.

-Why would people even think that, and what would you say in response to it?

-I think this is-- this has been something that's been going on for 40 years.

People have wanted to see this children's hospital here for good reason, but there's always been barriers to that.

And there's just tons of different obstacles and people with different focuses on this and how it should be done.

And so rumors start on what this actually is.

And you know, we've heard anywhere from, This is going to be a 70-bed, small little hospital, to, The hundreds of millions you're putting into this facility, it's just a feeder for Salt Lake City.

-And the doctors are both nodding here.

Have you both heard these rumors, too?

-Absolutely.

-Yeah.

It's a common one, because it's very easy to say, Oh, wow, if that's what's happening, I don't support it.

And the reality is, just from a practical sense businesswise, no one's going to put hundreds of millions of dollars to send kids to Salt Lake City or to LA when they're already going.

It's not going to be a financial windfall for anyone.

But in the reality, one kind of story always comes to mind.

There's one pediatric neurosurgeon in the state of Nevada, only one, and that is through Intermountain Health.

We don't have a hospital, so they can't practice in our facility.

And people say, Why do you have one there now if you're not able to do the surgeries in your own facility?

And it really is because it's the right thing to do.

And it is such an impressive organization, and obviously I'm biased, but coming from the outside and seeing that this truly is about, how do we make healthcare better for the kids of this state versus a financial play?

Because there are plenty of other ways to make money in healthcare, and pediatrics is not it.

And I know that you and your colleagues and all of them know this truly is about helping kids.

It's not about how do you get rich.

And so when I look at physicians like this, caregivers out in the community that are doing it, you absolutely know they're doing this for the right reason.

-When are you going to break ground?

-So the plan is to break ground in next, early next year, and we're looking at a 2030 opening date.

-Okay, so still on track for 2030, but a little bit later for the groundbreaking?

-A little bit later for the groundbreaking.

-Well, we'd love to have you back on when you do break ground, or we'll be there for that.

-Thank you.

-And thank you all for joining us for this important conversation.

All right.

We move now to the Baller Dream Foundation, which supports both children and young adults up to 29 years old who are battling cancer.

It's a cause near and dear to Las Vegas local and Hall of Fame Pitcher Greg Maddux, who's preparing to host the third annual Circa Celebrity Poker Tournament June 7 and 8.

We spoke with him about that and got his takes on some of Las Vegas' biggest baseball stories.

So Greg, the Baller Dream Foundation, why is this a cause that's important to you?

(Greg Maddux) It's a great charity.

Obviously, my daughter's been working there for about close to a decade now.

And, you know, they help kids--older kids, young adults--with cancer.

They do a lot of activities for them.

They-- you know, a kid's got cancer, doesn't have a lot of time left, and one kid might want to go sit courtside at a Laker game, one kid might want to go fishing in Alaska, another kid might need help paying his medical bills.

So, you know, it's a good charity.

It helps the older kids, and they seem to appreciate it very much, and we're happy to oblige.

-I wonder, do older kids kind of lack that, perhaps, that kind of help when they're dealing with cancer?

-Yeah, most of the money goes to the younger kids, you know, the preschoolers, the toddlers.

And it's nice to help out the older kids.

And, you know, they kind of specialize in 18 to 29 years old, as the kids get older and kind of time out of the, of all the younger stuff.

-Okay.

So, yeah, you mentioned your daughter, Paige.

She is the Chief Development Officer of the Baller Dream Foundation.

And I was reading on the website her bio, it says that she has a passion for philanthropy.

Do you know how that happened?

Were you a part in that?

-Well, I just think, you know, she's always been a pretty giving person, and it was something that she could do on her own, a lot of it on her own.

And she enjoys the work.

She works hard.

She-- I mean, she's working more than 40 hours a week on this stuff, and it's nice to see as a dad.

It's nice to see your kids going out there and actually doing something.

-You have a personal connection with poker, I believe, through your father?

-My father was a poker dealer, yes.

And, you know, on our flights traveling for 22 years, we always had a poker game.

Whatever city we were going to, we always had four or five guys in the back of the plane playing poker.

And, you know, it's just something we did to help kill time, make the flights go by faster, and we play a lot of poker.

We used to play at home, too, with the family, you know, holidays and all that.

We'd sit around and play poker together and have a lot of laughs, eat well and have a lot of laughs and play cards.

-How good are you at poker?

-I would say I'm about a 12 handicap, if you had to handicap it.

I mean, I realize I enjoy playing the game.

I'm by no means a pro or anywhere close to that, but it's kind of like golf, you find something you enjoy doing and you spend time with friends and you have a good time.

-And this is your third year doing it.

How much money are you hoping to raise?

-Well, hopefully we'll make over half a million.

You know, we did that last year, and we're hoping to achieve that and maybe do a little bit better this year.

-How closely do you follow Major League Baseball these days?

-Not too closely.

I retired when COVID hit, and, you know, I do watch the Rangers a little bit here and there, and occasionally it's kind of background noise when it's on right now.

But my brother's a pitching coach over there in Texas, and I usually put the Ranger games on.

-And so what do you think about the Athletics moving to Las Vegas?

-Yeah, I'm fired up about it.

You know, I think the Raiders have done well, the Knights have done well, WNBA has done well, so I'd love to see baseball come here and do well.

Just from a, from a selfish standpoint, it'd be nice to go to a Major League game without getting on a plane for a change.

-And how well do you think they'll be received?

Do you think locals will support the team?

-I think they'll be received pretty well.

I think if, you know, especially if they start winning.

You know, winning always helps, and they're kind of turning their season around this year.

They're playing respectable right now, and they're much improved over last year, and it'd be nice to see them improve up until the time they get here.

-From a player's perspective, will that be difficult to make that move?

-I mean, Vegas is pretty good.

I mean, I'm not knocking Oakland or anything like that, but it's hard to find many athletes that don't enjoy Las Vegas.

It's a great community.

It's a good place to live.

The weather is good.

I mean, there's all-- there's all types of things to do out here.

I mean, there are, there are golf courses and churches and schools and all that as well, and, you know, we also have the Strip.

But Vegas is a great place to live.

I can't see many players too upset with having to work in Las Vegas for a summer.

-What was the perception of Las Vegas when you were playing?

-Best road trip in the league.

I mean, that's the place, of all the places-- you know, everyone says, Hey, what's your favorite place to visit?

I mean, it was always Vegas.

I mean, you know, especially for the minor league players that were coming in here for the last, what, 30 years now, 40 years?

So, you know, it's always a good road trip.

-Very cool.

I'm surprised to hear you say that, because I thought maybe there would be a little bit of trepidation, like, Uh-oh, be careful in Vegas.

-Well, yeah.

It's sometimes a lot of fun to get into trouble, but it's also a good place to have fun.

And, you know, you're always looking for escapes from the ballpark.

I know when I was in Atlanta, we played a lot of golf.

We would always find a golf course to go to, and if we had an off night in Vegas, we were able to go have a nice dinner and see a show.

I mean, that would be a great, great way to spend an off day.

We had plenty off days in New York where we would, you know, play golf, see a show, and get ready to play the Mets the next day.

-What are your thoughts about Pete Rose?

A long-time Las Vegas resident, he is now off of the permanently ineligible list and could be inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside you.

Do you think he deserves that?

-Well, I mean, he's the all-time hit king.

I mean, nobody's got more hits than Pete Rose.

I think his career speaks for itself.

You know, I guess it's up to the writers now to vote on that.

I personally don't have a vote.

I would have to think about it for a while to make up my mind.

I know, you know, obviously you're not supposed to bet on the game.

That's something he did, unfortunately.

But, you know, I think it's kind of easy to forgive people sometimes.

I wish they would have done it while he was still alive.

It would have been nice to see him going to the Hall of Fame and actually give a speech.

I think that would be pretty cool.

Growing up as a kid, you know, my father was a huge Reds fan.

So growing up, you know, my brother and I, we were in the backyard playing, and, you know, we were, we were Pete Rose and Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan, and George Foster.

We were all the, all the Big Red Machine guys.

So for me personally, you know, he's always been the guy for me.

-And I didn't realize, but you share a birthday with him.

-Yeah, we do.

Yeah, pretty cool.

-Did you get to hang out with him here in Vegas?

-He actually came to our event last year, so I did get to spend some time and sit down with him that night.

And I've actually ran him-- ran into him at a few dinners, you know, around town, and it was always nice to say hi to him and kind of catch up a little bit.

-And so June 7 and 8 is when this charity event is going to be taking place at the Circa.

I understand that you have thrown out a pitch there to your son.

-Yeah, my son caught it this year.

That was kind of cool.

I'm glad he caught it because, you know, it's tough to see in those casinos with the lights and everything.

So-- -Yeah.

How fast do you think you threw it?

-I think I probably got it up over 50 would be my guess.

-In the casino.

[laughter] -Casino, no warmups, you know?

I got it on a line, but didn't hurt anything.

But, you know, it's pretty cool.

It's pretty cool.

It's a pretty cool event.

You can buy a seat for three-- for three grand, you can get a seat in the poker tournament, and it's 50,000 to the winner.

Everything's a tax write-off, all that.

You can get all the info at ballerdreampoker.org.

And you know, the more the merrier.

We'd love to have you and whoever wants to show up, and we'll have some celebrities out there.

And when you get knocked out, you can share a beer with them, and it'll be a good time.

-Greg Maddux, thank you so much for your time.

-Thank you.

Appreciate it.

-We have more information about the Baller Dream Foundation and about fundraising efforts for Nevada's first standalone children's hospital on our website vegaspbs.org/nevadaweek, and I'll see you next week on Nevada Week.

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