$25 million sought for UNLV Medical School

The Legislative Interim Finance Committee will be asked in October to release $25 million set aside for construction of the medical school at UNLV.

UNLV President Marta Meana briefed the Board of Regents on Friday of the construction plans for the school to be funded through a $57 million public-private partnership. She said the legislative committee will be asked on Oct. 24 to free up the money.

The 2017 Legislature agreed to allocate state money if it was matched by private funds.

The initial project calls for a 50,000 square foot medical school/health science library.

The second phase calls for a 182,000 square foot medical teaching and education building. She said in a news release the UNLV Foundation is actively raising money for that project.

Both buildings will be built at the Shadow Lane Campus of UNLV.

There have been questions about a delay of construction scheduled to start in 2019.

Meana, in the press release, said “We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from state leaders, including the Board of Regents and the medical and philanthropic community...”

In the recent request from the Nevada System of Higher Education, there’s no money sought for medical school construction. There’s a separate request for $70 million for a health and science building at the College of Southern Nevada.

The regents, meeting in Las Vegas, Friday approved a request to add $14.3 million to the upcoming $1.5 billion budget for the medical school to meet its staffing requirements.