Medical school’s new vice dean rushing to meet expectations
On a Thursday afternoon, Dr. Tracey Green rushes to make it to another meeting.
Green, formerly Nevada’s chief medical officer with the Department of Health and Human Services, has had plenty of meetings since she assumed her new role as the UNLV School of Medicine vice dean for clinical affairs on Feb. 22.
This meeting with a University Medical Center representative includes a conversation on UNLV’s goal of opening a telehealth clinic in partnership with the hospital. Telehealth — the use of telecommunications to connect health care providers and patients — is one of the first things on Green’s growing agenda.
“I see the transition for me from chief medical officer to this new vice dean position as a way to help access to health care,” she said.
As chief medical officer for seven years, Green worked to integrate public and mental health services; she also implemented Affordable Care Act requirements.
Now, the Reno transplant will spearhead the development of three planned community clinics targeting Medicaid patients, according to a news release from the UNLV School of Medicine. The clinics, which will offer a learning opportunity to the medical students, will also provide services for uninsured and underserved valley residents, Green said.
Community-centered health care is one aspect of UNLV’s curriculum that school officials hope will keep students connected to the area.
“We believe that the more you’re integrated into a community, the more likely you are to stay,” Green said.
As the University of Nevada School of Medicine prepares to reduce its clinical presence in Southern Nevada in preparation for the new medical school, Green is assessing their leased facilities and determining which ones UNLV could maintain.
Green will also look for state and federal programs that could increase health care access for Southern Nevadans.
“Dr. Green possesses the unique combination of talent and experience we need to push the UNLV School of Medicine toward our vision of becoming a world-class academic medical center,” the school’s founding Dean Dr. Barbara Atkinson said in the release.
UNLV announced last month that the medical school cleared a key hurdle, moving from applicant to candidate status in the accreditation process.
The school is expecting a site visit from a group of experts over the summer, which will then lead to a decision on preliminary accreditation. UNLV hopes to begin enrolling in October for its first class of students in July 2017.
Contact Pashtana Usufzy at pusufzy@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Follow @Pashtana_U on Twitter
