MountainView Hospital, a full-service teaching hospital in northwest Las Vegas, celebrated its second graduating class of Paramedics from the hospital’s Paramedic Institute. Cohort 2 included 37 students from nine agencies throughout the Las Vegas Valley.
Launched in late 2020, the MountainView Hospital Paramedic Institute is currently the only hospital in Las Vegas, as well within HCA Healthcare, to offer an extensive education and training program for prehospital professionals throughout the Las Vegas Valley.
The Cohort 2 of paramedic provider students took part in a 57-week program that involved a stringent didactic regimen, skills practice lab, and hands-on clinical immersion. MountainView partnered with local Fire Departments and private EMS agencies in creation of the program. Students attending the institute were sponsored by each agency. The co-valedictorians of cohort 2 were Harold Panaligan and Delanie McGannon.
“This is truly a community effort. HCA Healthcare, along with our community partners are proving that great things happen when we leveraged individual assets together to achieve a common goal,” said Troy Tuke, RN, NREMT-P, MountainView Hospital Paramedic Program Director. “Our students are arriving in the field ready to work and take excellent care of the residents and visitors of the Las Vegas Valley.”
The cohort included students representing nine SNHD Licensed EMS agencies including AMR, Clark County Fire Department, Community Ambulance, Henderson Fire Department, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, Medic West Ambulance, Mesquite Fire Department, Moapa Valley Fire District and North Las Vegas Fire Department.
To graduate, students completed 57 weeks of a clinically immersive program, two didactic blocks with two clinical block rotations. Students also had to complete numerous industry certifications, including Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and Advanced Medical Life Support (AMLS), Pre Hospital Trauma Life support among others. Students also had to successfully complete the National Registry of EMT Psychomotor exam, the Southern Nevada Health District Protocol Exam and successful completion of an agency field internship. This qualified each student to take the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians Paramedic cognitive exam.
Graduates scored well above the national average on measured metrics for a successful completion of the program.
“Congratulations to the second cohort of MountainView Hospital Paramedic Institute graduates; this is a significant step forward for caring for our community,” said Hiral Patel, MountainView Hospital Chief Executive Officer. “With our agency partners, we are able to provide a unique educational opportunity to support the education of medical professionals in our community.”
The need for paramedic schools in the Las Vegas is great, as the Las Vegas Valley, much like the rest of the nation, is experiencing a Paramedic/EMS provider shortage. This has been exasperated by an aging workforce, and overall decline in interest in the paramedic profession.
The MountainView Hospital Paramedic Institute is now working with its third cohort of 54 students, expected to graduate February of 2024.
MountainView Hospital is a regional leader in medical education and has been ranked as one of the nation’s Top Teaching Hospitals by The Leapfrog Group. MountainView is home to the Sunrise Health Graduate Medical Education Consortium, which includes more than 150 residents and fellows in numerous disciplines including emergency medicine, internal medicine, general surgery, radiology, anesthesiology and OBGYN, physical medicine and rehabilitation. MountainView is also home to the MountainView Hospital Pharmacy Residency Program and a nurse residency program.
