Proposed Jerry Lewis hospital killed in Nevada Senate

Comedian Jerry Lewis' proposed Las Vegas hospital has died in the state Senate.

SB156 would have allowed one of Lewis' doctors, Benjamin Venger, and Venger's partner, Jeff Simmons, to build a 15-bed specialty hospital for spine and pain management.

Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, moved the bill to the desk of the Senate without a vote. The bill died because the deadline for passing Senate measures was Tuesday.

Amodei said the bill would have allowed a small hospital to take paying customers while other hospitals in Clark County would be left to take care of too many indigent patients in their emergency rooms at a loss. He said there were no safeguards built into SB156 to prevent that.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, who pushed SB156, said there's a possibility that the issue might be revived in the Assembly.

Titus added the bill ran into strong opposition from the Nevada Hospital Association.

Venger and Simmons said they were ready to build an $18 million to $20 million hospital in downtown Las Vegas, named after Lewis who had testified earlier in support of the plan.