Las Vegas is the largest metropolitan area in the United States without a dedicated standalone children's hospital, and the campaign to change that has now formally begun. The Las Vegas Raiders and team owners announced a $25 million gift to Intermountain Health to help build Nevada's first standalone children's hospital.
The number that explains why this matters is not the donation. It is roughly 2,000, the number of Southern Nevada children sent out of state each year for overnight medical treatment because the specialty care they need is not available at home, according to local reporting on the announcement. Many are flown to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, more than 400 miles away.
