Governor touts Nevada's first children's hospital. How much credit should he really get?

More than $2.7 million in campaign advertisements have praised Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) for establishing Nevada's first children's hospital — a bright spot in a state with a chronic lack of healthcare providers.

Lombardo's re-election campaign launched with an ad touting the hospital's future groundbreaking. A separate ad, run by the dark money nonprofit Service First Fund, thanked the governor for "bringing the first standalone children's hospital to Nevada." In an interview with KTNV, the governor also highlighted that during his term, legislation passed to incorporate a children's hospital in Southern Nevada.

But the narrative around who deserves credit for Intermountain Health's Las Vegas children's hospital project, which is set to open in 2030 and is still in the pre-construction phase, may be a bit more complicated.

Lombardo has publicly supported President Donald Trump and touted the cuts within last summer's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but the bill will reduce revenue from a provider tax that was initially credited with making a children's hospital possible and cuts Medicaid funding that many child patients rely on. 

Democrats have criticized the governor for not pushing back against lowering the provider tax cap rate. State Sen. Fabian Doñate (D-Las Vegas), who chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, said he views the ads highlighting the hospital as "a little bit disingenuous" in light of the struggles the hospital may face with the Republican-backed cuts. 

Still, hospital executives with Intermountain Health said even with the federal changes, the hospital is "moving full steam ahead." Those involved in the hospital have also thanked Lombardo for being a critical force behind its development.

Drew Galang, spokesperson for the governor's office, wrote in a statement that Lombardo "supports every effort to increase access to high-quality health care for Nevada families."

Read below for more about the governor's role in developing the hospital and questions about the project's viability.

Does Nevada have a children's hospital and where are kids getting care now?

Nevada does not have a standalone comprehensive children's hospital. Las Vegas is the only metropolitan area in the country with more than 2 million people and no hospital designated specifically for children. 

Children in the Silver State can access pediatric units and emergency rooms within existing hospital networks, including Renown Children's Hospital in Northern Nevada and pediatric wings in other hospital systems. For specialty pediatric care, such as oncology, young patients are often required to travel out of state.

Representatives from Intermountain Health noted that a comprehensive, standalone children's hospital is built around the specific needs of children, with everything sized and tailored to children. 

The facility would bring together a broad range of pediatric services so children with complex or critical conditions can receive care in one place.

Nevada ranked at the very bottom, 50th out of 50 states, in providing children's clinical care in the 2025 Health of Women and Children Report from America's Health Rankings.

An independent study by Tripp Umbach published in 2024 found that approximately 1,500 children in Southern Nevada leave the region annually to receive care, and the total cost to Nevada's Medicaid program in 2023 for out-of-state children's services was $123.8 million.

Is the hospital open?

No.

Russ Williams, president of the Nevada Children's Hospital, told The Nevada Independent the approximately 180-bed hospital is scheduled to break ground this fall and open for services in 2030 at UNLV's Harry Reid Research and Technology Park.

The goal, he said, is to build on the pediatric and clinical community work that's already happening in Nevada to provide more timely and closer-to-home pediatric care for children.

How will the children's hospital benefit Nevada?

The hospital will provide specialty care including oncology, bone marrow transplants and the highest level of neonatal intensive care unit, among other services. 

Chris Heavey, the interim president of UNLV, said the university's medical school will also be able to partner with Intermountain Health to create new pediatrics residency slots supported by federal funding. 

"It's a huge win, both for the care that they will provide, and then for the additional training opportunities that will become available through the partnership," Heavey said.

The Tripp Umbach study found that an independent, research-intensive, standalone children's hospital could improve children's health in Southern Nevada, reduce travel to other states for care and stimulate the healthcare economy. The report estimated that a new hospital would contribute $1.2 billion annually to the local economy and support more than 5,800 jobs.

What role did Lombardo play in hospital development?

Discussions about building a standalone children's hospital in Nevada have been taking place for decades, although Doñate recalled that the effort likely started in earnest around 2016 or 2017 and spanned multiple governors. 

Heavey with UNLV and Williams with Intermountain Health called the development a "team effort." 

Heavey noted that Lombardo, Clark County Commissioners Jim Gibson and Michael Naft were "key partners" as they closed in on the lease agreement for the technology park. Specifically, Heavey said Lombardo was critical to bringing everyone to the table for the final agreement and helping everyone involved understand the importance of the project to the state and community.

Was there a bill to bring a children's hospital to Nevada?

Lombardo has said that he and other lawmakers passed legislation to incorporate a children's hospital in Southern Nevada, although there was no bill specific to Intermountain Health's development of the children's hospital.

Galang, the Lombardo spokesperson, pointed to a joint legislative effort between the governor and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) that established the Statewide Health Care Access and Recruitment (SHARP) program during the 2025 legislative session. 

The effort created a $60 million fund that providers and other entities can apply for to support projects that address Nevada's critical provider, service and expertise shortages. 

Galang also highlighted Lombardo's support of doubling graduate medical education funding during the 2025 legislative session as a way to improve the state's provider crisis.

"Together, these efforts are helping build the clinical workforce, partnerships, and sustainable health care infrastructure necessary to support Nevada's first stand-alone children's hospital," Galang wrote.

Williams said SHARP represents a significant investment and that Intermountain Health will be applying for funding through the program.

Why are lawmakers worried about the viability of the children's hospital?

Democratic lawmakers and other experts have raised questions about challenges the hospital may face amid cuts stemming from HR1, the Republican-backed budget package also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

"I think that their hospital is still on the road not to be opened," Doñate said.

Portions of the budget bill won't be felt for the next few years, but the cuts are projected to slash funding for the state-managed Medicaid program and limit the amount of money that hospitals can draw from a provider tax passed in 2023. A stricter cap is projected to cause Nevada to lose out on $600 million to $800 million in revenue in the next few years from the provider tax, which was initially credited with making the establishment of the children's hospital possible.

Given that nearly half of Nevada children are on Medicaid, Nevada Hospital Association President Pat Kelly said he expected the new children's hospital will likely see "a lot of Medicaid patients" and the cuts could present issues for Intermountain Health.

"It's going to have an impact on them," Kelly told lawmakers at an April meeting. "Obviously they're moving forward and everything, but that has to be concerning."

Will the hospital be built even with the cuts from HR1?

Williams said Intermountain Health is "moving full steam ahead with all of our plans."

Though he said that fewer dollars mean hospitals have less ability to hire additional specialists or must make other adjustments, he noted philanthropy and community partnerships will help alleviate the revenue challenges from HR1.

"The Big Beautiful Bill does reduce that [provider tax]. It doesn't eliminate it," Williams said. "That creates a challenge for us, but has absolutely zero impact on our commitment to build this standalone children's hospital with all of the services that we know the community needs."

Already, MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle and his wife, Wendy Hornbuckle, announced they will co-chair the Nevada Campaign for Kids, a philanthropic effort to support the children's hospital.

Still, Doñate contends that even with that commitment, the hospital may not be able to offer all services or systems as intended and worries about an overreliance on philanthropy.

"Philanthropists are more focused on the thing that's going to develop the next milestone. They're more focused on capital expenditures that are going to bring new facilities or bring new service lines," he said. "They're not looking to be the lifeline of a facility."