Dental school costs debated by regents

ELKO - Nevada's new dental school, originally pitched as completely self supporting, needs $1.8 million in state support for the next two years, university regents were told Thursday.

But University of Nevada, Las Vegas officials said the school will be generating the rest of its $10.1 million-a-year budget.

Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, a dentist who has pushed the plan for two years, said during the 1999 legislative and to regents that the school wouldn't cost any state dollars.

Regent Dave Phillips reminded him of that Thursday.

"When you addressed us before, you told us you wouldn't be needing any state money," he said. "Now I understand it's part of the budget."

Rawson said he meant there would be no special funding requested. Officials pointed out the state puts $19,000 a year into each medical student.

Rawson said regents are being asked to include the dental school in their budget so that students would get the same per-student formula funding every other student who attends UNLV generates from the state.

"It appears to me to be prepoposterous that we're going to accept 300 students over the next four years and they would be treated differently than any other students," Rawson said.

UNLV President Carol Harter said regents should approve a $1.8 million budget for the coming two years to make the school possible. And the school would need an annual state budget until it finds a way to generate more revenue.

"If we get no money for this school, we are essentially running a private school out of a public school," she said.

UNLV Provost Douglas Ferraro said the plan is for a dental school serving 75 students a year - a total student population of 300 for the four-year school. He said there is a critical shortage of dentists nationwide and that Nevada has the most severe shortage of any state, with more than 2,500 patients for every practicing dentist.

The school, he said, will generate about $4.2 million a year in Medicaid contract money, $672,000 a year to help children with dental needs under the Nevada Check Up program and already has a $1.5 million-a-year contract to provide dental services to the Culinary Union in Las Vegas.

That plus tuition from dental students attending the school, he said, will generate about $8.5 million of the $10.1 million a year needed to run the school.

Ferraro told the regents, however, there is a big opportunity for the school to generate a lot more revenue and put itself solidly in the black by providing much-needed continuing education for dentists nationwide.

"There is an extraordinary demand in this country for continuing dental education," he said. "And we see Las Vegas as a very attractive place for this. It's potentially a very major revenue stream."