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INNOVATION THAT HEALS.
Briar Stahl and Husband Diagnosis: Brain Cancer
UNITED TO REDEFINE CANCER CARE
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada has helped develop 53 FDA approved cancer therapies. At Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada there is no such thing as a “standard” course of treatment. As an afliate of The US Oncology Network and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, we have access to the latest innovations in cancer treatment therapies as they are developed. No matter what you face, chances are we’ve faced it before. And we know the most current and efective individual treatment options that are most likely to be efective for you. Ask your doctor about Comprehensive. Visit cccnevada.com for more information or call 702.952.3350 to schedule an appointment today.
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Photographer: Meghan Poort
Thank You Red Rock Fertility. Thank you Dr. Littman and the staff at Red Rock Fertility for my two beautiful babies, Mac and Lily. For two years, my husband and I tried to have children naturally and we were frustrated when we couldn’t conceive. After visiting several fertility centers, meeting Dr. Littman at a Red Rock monthly seminar was refreshing. I was immediately impressed with her confidence and warm, personal approach. Thanks to her, we only had to go through a single IVF cycle. My son Mac was born on our first fresh cycle, and Lily was born two years later in an FET cycle. Over the past four years, the staff has made us feel like family. We even recommended their services to our friends who now have babies of their own. Thank you Red Rock Fertility!
To learn more about Mac and Lily’s story, visit lasvegasfertility.com/babyofthemonth/macandlily /redrockfertilitycenter
@FertilityLV
Schedule an appointment today, at 702-789-7589 or visit us online at RedRockFertility.com.
Eva Littman,
M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
Shannon L. McGrath,
M.S.N., W.H.N.P.-C.
6410 Medical Center Street, Suite A • Las Vegas, NV 89148 870 Seven Hills Drive, Suite 103 • Henderson, NV 89052
Mary Ann K. Allison, MD, FACP Medical Oncology
Michael John Anderson, MD Radiation Oncology
Fadi S. Braiteh, MD Medical Oncology
Dan Lee Curtis, MD Radiation Oncology
Khoi M. Dao, MD Medical Oncology
Souzan El-Eid, MD, FACS Surgery
Farzaneh Farzin, MD Radiation Oncology
Oscar B. Goodman, Jr., MD, PhD Medical Oncology
Clark S. Jean, MD Medical Oncology
Edwin C. Kingsley, MD Medical Oncology
Raul T. Meoz, MD, FACR Radiation Oncology
Paul E. Michael, MD Medical Oncology
Wolfram E. Samlowski, MD, FACP Medical Oncology
Hamidreza Sanatinia, MD Medical Oncology
James D. Sanchez, MD Medical Oncology
Michael T. Sinopoli, MD Radiation Oncology
33 Physicians at the Top of their Field. 17 Honored as Top Doctors by Vegas Seven. One Mission.
Nicholas J. Vogelzang, MD Medical Oncology
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada congratulates our 17 physicians named Top Doctors by Vegas Seven. Your achievements truly exemplify the commitment shared by all of our physicians – be the best, perform at the top of the medical field, and always strive for the next great breakthrough. Your dedication is redefning cancer care and treatment in Southern Nevada. And more importantly, it’s saving lives.
702.952.3350 • cccnevada.com
18 | THE LATEST
“Have Ailment, Will Travel,” by Brooke Edwards Staggs. Henderson’s Union Village hopes to spark medical tourism movement. Plus, Ask a Native and Peeve of the Week on our ubiquitous drugstores.
20 | Green Felt Journal
“A True Game Changer,” by David G. Schwartz. The Riviera is going out just as it came in: as a symbol of the Strip’s future
22 | TOP DOCTORS 2015
Our annual list of the Valley’s outstanding physicians, according to a survey by the national firm Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. Plus, interviews with some of our most fascinating docs, what to know now about measles and plans for a free medical clinic to expand into Downtown.
45 | NIGHTLIFE
“New Kids on the Block,” by Kat Boehrer. OC duo Slander and XS are a match made in “heaven trap.”
69 | DINING
Al Mancini on Off the Strip at the Linq. Plus, 346 Patisserie offers frozen treats, Dishing With Grace and Cocktail Culture.
75 | A&E
“Eat, Play, Solve,” by Steve Bornfeld. Alibi Las Vegas is equal parts improv theater, Downtown walking tour, food stop, bar crawl and interactive mystery. Plus, Jerry Lewis and Nicolas Cage team up for The Trust, The Hit List, Tour Buzz and a review of Surfer Blood in concert.
80 | Old Lady in a Mosh Pit
“The Festival Originals,” by Lissa Townsend Rodgers. Amid festival creep, Viva Las Vegas rockabilly weekender and Punk Rock Bowling are nearly 20-years strong.
84 | Movies
The DUFF and our weekly movie capsules.
110 | Seven Questions
Nathan Adelson Hospice chief Carole Fisher on planning for the inevitable, industry competition and Brad Garrett’s friendship.
ON THE COVER Illustration by Ryan Olbrysh
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Dialogue Seven Days Seven Nights Showstopper
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15 19 50 83
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DEPARTMENTS
February 26–March 4, 2015
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DIALOGUE LETTERS After several days of rumors, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority on February 20 confrmed that it will indeed purchase the Riviera with the intention of demolishing the 60-year-old resort to make way for convention center expansion tied to the LVCVA’s Global Business District (see Page 20). Needless to say, the demise of yet another iconic Strip property didn’t sit well with readers, some of whom weighed in on our Facebook page: Vegas has zero value of its own history. Zero. It’s embarrassing to the point of disgusting. – Guy Chapman Very sad. I wish they would try to at least save the facades of this iconic building and integrate them into the new structures, just to preserve the history of our amazing city. – Nicholas Lash
OMG. We loved a little afternoon drink, listening to the bartender’s stories of the rich and famous he served. Hope it’s still there when we visit in September. – Elaine Jones Vegas blows up everything. How sad. … It’s all about the money in Vegas, not about the buildings. The Landmark hotel was [also] unique. – Lisa Marcinelli Hegwood
OUR SITES TO SEE BIG ZIM’S BIG DECISION
RIVIERA BY BOB BRYE/L AS VEGAS NEWS BUREAU; ZIMMERMAN BY ANTHONY MAIR; YOUNG BY JON ESTRADA
Stephen Zimmerman may be the best prep basketball prospect to come out of Las Vegas in years, and UNLV is doing everything it can to land him. If you’re a Rebels fan, tell us why you think the Bishop Gorman High School big man should sign with UNLV. Tweet or share a video on Instagram, hashtag it #KeepZimmInLV, and you could win tickets to a Rebels home game.
FLIPPIN’ GOOD PREVIEW
EMBRACE YOUR FEMME FATALE
DOWNTOWN’S OSCAR MOMENT
Eagerly awaiting the opening of Flippin’ Good Burgers, a restaurant under construction next to Inspire? Well, here’s something to hold you over until the doors open: DTLV.com editor Geoff Carter dishes on what to expect, from the food to the owners, at DTLV.com/ FlippinGood.
Luxury lingerie brand Agent Provocateur is known for its sensual designs, and its spring collection is no exception. Vegas Rated recently chatted with Sarah Shotton, the company’s creative director, about the brand’s partnership with model Naomi Campbell, as well as inspiring women to connect with their inner femme fatales. VRated.com/Provacateur.
Did you catch a glimpse of a Downtowner at the Oscars? OK, she wasn’t on the red carpet, but restaurant owner Natalie Young and Downtown Las Vegas did appear in a $2 million spot for American Express during the awards ceremony. Check out the video at DTLV.com/ NatalieYoung.
REBELS STEP UP
UNLV’s basketball team enters the stretch run thinned by injury, but the freshman tandem of guard Patrick McCaw and center Goodluck Okonoboh are doing all they can to keep the Rebels’ faint postseason hopes alive. RunRebs.com editor Mike Grimala analyzes the duo’s emergence at RunRebs.com/ SteppingUp.
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from the creators of commonwealth and park
downtown las vegas / april 2015
“While $300,000 dinner tabs are apparently back, sustained growth in gambling is, for the
A rendering of the $1.2 billion Union Village in Henderson.
Have Ailment, Will Travel Henderson’s Union Village hopes to spark medical tourism movement By Brooke Edwards Staggs
February 26–March 4, 2015
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VegasSeven.com
GAMBLING, SHOWS, RESTAURANTS, SHOPPING,
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nightclubs—for decades, these staples have been luring people from around the world to our fair city. But in recent years, the question on the minds of some has been this: Can weight-loss surgeries and specialized care for children give visitors a healthier reason to head to Sin City? Tourism and health care groups have been working together since 2011 to boost medical tourism in Southern Nevada. Even though the term conjures images of people heading to Mexico for cheap dental work or Singapore for cancer treatments, those behind the local effort are focused more on attracting domestic travelers for all things health related. There’s already been a jump in medical conferences, says Doug Geinzer, CEO of the nonproft Las Vegas Heals. Additionally, the city’s spas have seen a rise in the number of
customers seeking wellness treatments. But the needle hasn’t moved much when it comes to those who need medical treatments coming to Las Vegas, a city that’s long been plagued by doctor shortages. That’s why a lot of focus is on the southeast, where a massive development in Henderson is being billed as one of the world’s frst integrated health villages, one that might stoke the medical tourism fre. “I see this as being the logical place to launch that effort,” says Craig Johnson, cofounder of Union Village. “There isn’t another place in the United States— and certainly not in Las Vegas—where everything [a patient might need] is right there.” Union Village is a $1.2 billion project that fnally broke ground late last year along Galleria Drive at U.S. 95. It will be anchored by a new hospital, but will also include other health care
facilities, a senior residential complex, townhomes, retail, restaurants, a cultural center and, yes, even a hotel. Johnson admits that existing tourism was one draw to develop this project here, since Southern Nevada offers patients and families ample options for hotels and entertainment. More than that, Johnson’s Irvine, Californiabased team chose this area because of one piece of data: Nevada ranks 47th in the country in hospital beds per residents. “This area is vastly underserved—particularly at the moment, in the middle of fu season,” says Scott Romney, spokesman for Valley Health System. “We have a dozen-plus hospitals in the area, and they’re all full.” Valley Health System operates fve of those hospitals, but it doesn’t have one in the southeast part of the Valley. That’s why it agreed to develop the frst phase of Union Village, breaking ground October 8 on the
142-bed Henderson Hospital. Romney says the facility will emphasize maternity services, with top-foor views for new moms. There will also be 12 newborn intensive care rooms, plus emergency services, surgery centers, radiology and more. Henderson Hospital won’t necessarily offer treatments that aren’t available at other facilities, but Romney says it will deliver those services in new ways. For example, the hospital is being designed with a sound system so that pink noise—steady frequencies proven to create more restful sleep— can be broadcast in every room. Also, traditional nursing stations will become mini stations for every two rooms, with discreet windows so nurses can check on patients without disturbing them. Crews that have largely been moving dirt since October expect to fnish site work by May, with the steel structure going up in June or July. The goal, Romney says, is for Henderson Hospital to open on Nevada Day in 2016. The hospital’s design has been heavily impacted by the other developments planned for Union Village. For instance, Romney says it doesn’t make sense to incorporate physical-therapy rooms when, say, a rehabilitative care center will be built across the pavilion. Furthermore, Johnson stresses that the integrated design will particularly ease care for senior patients, who are typically transferred via ambulance between hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living—often with lengthy waits to be readmitted each time. At Union Village, patients can be wheeled across the courtyard while their fles are electronically transferred from the hospital to a planned 165-bed subacute-care facility or a 130-unit senior complex being built by Franklin Group. While these services likely will draw patients from across the Valley, it’s the ensuing phases that developers hope will truly make Union Village a destination for medical care. “We’re working hard to create a children’s hospital at Union Village,” Johnson says, adding that they also hope to focus on orthopedics and cancer treatments, the goal being to lure top specialists to practice in a unique setting. “It will take a while to develop these centers of excellence. But the potential to bring in medical tourism is huge.”
RENDERING COURTESY OF UNION VILL AGE
most part, not.” GREEN FELT JOURNAL {PAGE 20}
By Bob Whitby THURSDAY, FEB. 26: Combine scooters and Las Vegas, and you have an event fit for a bunch of Brits (they’re so silly). It’s the High Rollers Weekend, and it’s all about big fun and little rides through Saturday. There’ll be music, parties, vendors, scooter rides into the desert and a few parties. Most events are Downtown, with the rally at the Downtown Grand. LVScooterRally.com.
J A M E S P. R E Z A
IS UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER THE OLDEST HOSPITAL IN LAS VEGAS? Yes, and more than that, it’s the oldest in Southern Nevada. Opened in July 1931 as the 20-bed Clark County Indigent Hospital, it was intended to assist with treating physically injured and heat-stressed workers from Hoover Dam, as well as many others who arrived in Boulder City but were not hired to build the dam (hence, the indigent designation). Four months later, in November 1931, Boulder City Hospital opened to help as well. After dam construction was completed, the Boulder City facility closed for eight years, reopening in 1943. Though it never closed, Clark County Indigent Hospital
went through a post-dam transition as well. In 1938, discussions began to update the facility’s mission and organization to serve the general population, and in 1940 it became Clark County General Hospital. Facing increasing demands from the fast-growing community, the hospital in 1943 was turned over to the federal government, which promptly spent $450,000 on new buildings and equipment. At the end of World War II, Clark County repurchased the hospital, and in the 1950s changed the name to one still referred to by crusty old-timers: Southern Nevada Memorial. In 1978, the facility became a teaching hospital, and in 1986, its name was changed to reflect that, becoming University Medical Center. The hospital has long been an integral part of the community (as evidenced by such things as the Lions Club Blind Center and the Mesquite Club Garden). And it has seen its fair share of famous
(and infamous) patients, including Kenny Guinn, Roy Horn and Tupac Shakur. It’s also home to the only Level I Trauma Center in Southern Nevada, explaining why the Flight for Life helicopter service has its helipad there.
FRIDAY, FEB. 27: It’s almost spring, which means one
HAPPY 150TH!
SATURDAY, FEB. 28: Seems like you can’t go a weekend around here without a themed 5K run to get you off the couch. This week it’s the Blacklight Run, 6 p.m. at Sam Boyd Stadium. Wear a white shirt, get covered in powder that glows under black-light stations set up around the course, run 5 kilometers and party afterward. We’re in! BlackLightRun.com.
It’s been a little more than three years since I began fielding your questions for this publication. That amounts to exactly 150 columns, or about 57,000 words—the rough equivalent of three movie scripts, two small books or one Oscar acceptance speech. It couldn’t have been done without reader input, so please know that I appreciate your questions, your corrections and criticisms, as well as your willingness to fill in the story gaps of our young city, whose modern history often exists only within our heads. Thank you, and keep it coming! Questions? AskaNative@ VegasSeven.com.
thing: Time to dump cash into beautifying your home. Here to help you do that is Home Expo Las Vegas, three days of stuff you didn’t know you couldn’t live without. From garage floors to kitchens, it’s all at Cashman Center through Sunday. HomeExpoLasVegas.com.
SUNDAY, MARCH 1: We’ve been slacking
when it comes to sending you up to North Las Vegas to enjoy some quality time. Today we make up for that by highlighting the On the Ranch Farmers and Artisan Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Craig Ranch Regional Park. Discover farm-fresh food, fully cooked meals, entertainment, arts and crafts, and perhaps a new appreciation for the amenities of this fine city. OnTheRanchMarket.com.
MONDAY, MARCH 2: UNLV’s Department of Anthropol[ PEEVE OF THE WEEK ]
DRUGSTORE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD Once upon a time, the Strip’s casinos enticed visitors with cool signs, fountains, gardens, statues—even fake volcanoes. No more. Today, the face casinos want to present to the world is that of a CVS or Walgreens. Just look at Treasure Island, which is reconstructing its Strip-front property as a shopping mall dominated by a giant CVS. Up the street, there’s a two-story Walgreens going in at the northeast corner of Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard—an obviously underserved area, as it’s a whole .9 miles south to the nearest Walgreens and twice that to the closest franchise to the north. ¶ Our drugstore addiction extends far beyond Las Vegas Boulevard, of course. Get a whiff of these stats: Las Vegas proper is home to 43 PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA
CVS stores. Louisville has 14. Milwaukee has eight. Heck, Dallas is twice the size of Las Vegas, with its own hefty visitor population, and they only have 39. Same story with Walgreens: There are 64 scattered throughout the Valley. Compare that with San Jose, which boasts 40 Walgreens—despite having a similar population and need for sunscreen. ¶ Seriously, is our demand for lipstick and condoms that much greater than other cities? Do that many tourists forget their toothbrushes? Or maybe it’s just that Vegas no longer wants to gamble on neon signs and slot machines—not when it can put its money on sure things, like Tampax and Tums.
ogy is rolling out some interesting think pieces as part of their colloquium series. Tonight’s brain food: anthropologist William Jankowiak speaking on “The Return of the Chinese Mistress: What It Can Tell Us About Marriage, Human Emotions and Chinese Culture.” Funny, we weren’t aware they’d ever gone away. 5:30 p.m. at UNLV’s Beam Hall; UNLV.edu.
TUESDAY, MARCH 3: Continue your exploration of Chi-
nese culture with Shen Yun, a wondrous telling of ancient legends and heroic tales through music and dance, 7:30 p.m. at The Smith Center, with shows through Wednesday. This is 5,000 years of history as told by classically trained dancers and an Eastmeets-West orchestra. TheSmithCenter.com.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4: Ready to brush up on your dance skills? Then shuffle your way down to the Charleston Heights Arts Center, 800 S. Brush St., for Ethnic Express’ instructional evening in Arabic, Armenian, Greek and other dance styles. No need to bring a partner; just be there at 6:30 p.m. EthnicExpressLasVegas.com.
The Riviera is going out just as it came in: as a symbol of the Strip’s future
LOWERING THE STAKES (AS WELL AS THE STEAKS)
Despite 41.1 million visitors (the most ever), the highest hotel occupancy rates since the Great Recession and refreshed properties such as the SLS, Cromwell and Downtown Grand, last year’s gaming win still fell short of the 2008 mark, to say nothing of its 2007 high point. While $300,000 dinner tabs are apparently back, sustained growth in gambling is, for the most part, not. Clearly, in this post-recession era, gambling is as small a part of Las Vegas’ lure as it’s ever been. So it makes sense that the LVCVA sees more value in the Riviera’s 26.4 acres as a transportation center and convention space expansion than other potential buyers did as a renovated or implodedand-built-from-scratch casino. Rest assured, if another buyer had been willing to pay more to use the land for a hotel-casino, owner Starwood would have sold to them. Just as the Riviera kicked off the high-rise era of hotel construction 60 years ago, today the property seems to be signaling the start of another chapter, one that features substantially less gambling and substantially more of everything else related to leisure and business travel on the Las Vegas Strip. As did the Riviera, this new business model will probably evolve considerably over the next half century— perhaps the only certainty in a city as dynamic and ever-changing as Las Vegas.
In a recent column about around-the-clock dollar blackjack at the Riviera (“$1 Blackjack Is Alive and Well,” Feb. 5), I mentioned that dollarminimum games are also available at Poker Palace and Binion’s. I’ve since discovered that Poker Palace no longer deals $1 minimums (my bad). Binion’s, on the other hand, has an even better game than I thought. During “Thursday Throwback Blackjack,” four tables with six spots each deal the $1 game from noon to midnight, which means that for 12 hours on Thursdays, there’s double the capacity at Binion’s than at the Riviera. And whereas the Riv’s game has gimmicky rules that raise the house’s edge, Binion’s rules make it one of the best blackjack games in the city. It’s single deck dealt from the hand (known as a “pitch game”); the dealer hits soft 17; doubling is allowed on 10 and 11 only; there’s no doubling after splits; and no re-splitting aces. Essentially, these are the old “Reno rules,” which were common in northern Nevada for years, yielding a scant 0.43 percent house advantage against a basic-strategy player. During a recent research trip, the tables were hopping, and not everyone was a $1 bettor, meaning the casino was making a small profit on this promotional offering (max bet is $100). Bravo, Binion’s. This is the sort of thing more casinos should be doing. After all, while gambling is fun, it does cost money. So just like anything else you do for entertainment, it’s prudent to seek out the best bargain. A big part of that is being able to gamble for lower stakes. Now you can play $1 blackjack at the Riviera daily and at Binion’s for half a day each week. What about low stakes elsewhere? First, let me give credit where it’s due: Rather than run to every casino, I relied on a long-running industry newsletter that keeps up with blackjack conditions in Las Vegas (and beyond) called Current Blackjack News (BJ21.com). CBNJ isn’t perfect, but it’s a good road map, and according to its latest issue, four local casinos deal $2-minimum blackjack: Arizona Charlie’s Decatur, Fiesta Henderson, Longhorn and (now) Poker Palace. There are 20 casinos dealing $3 minimums: Arizona Charlie’s Boulder, Boulder Station, California, Cannery, Circus Circus, Club Fortune, the D, El Cortez, Eastside Cannery, Fremont, Hooters, Jerry’s Nugget, Jokers Wild, Las Vegas Club, Lucky Club, Main Street Station, Railroad Pass, Sam’s Town and Silver Nugget. Other than that, the lowest blackjack minimums you’ll find in town are $5 and up. Now, allow me to shift gears and note that Irene’s Cocktail Lounge (5480 Spring Mountain Road) has lowered the price of its 24-hour, 16-ounce New York steak special by $2 to $14.99. Whether it’s “stakes” or “steaks,” lower is always better.
David G. Schwartz is the director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research.
Anthony Curtis is the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor and LasVegasAdvisor.com.
Standing tall: the Riviera, circa 1969.
February 26–March 4, 2015
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VegasSeven.com
IF THERE WERE ONE PROPERTY YOU COULD
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point to that has represented the evolution of our city’s casinos over the past 60 years, it would be the Riviera. So it’s only ftting that, in its fnal days, the hotel-casino is doing so again. By now you know that the Riviera is being sold to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (the $182.5 million transaction was unanimously approved by the LVCVA’s board February 20). What you probably don’t know is that, when it opened in April 1955, the Riviera was Las Vegas’ tallest structure at a “towering” nine stories. Before the Riviera, there was no real need to build up: land was plentiful and cheap. But with the success of early casinos such as El Rancho Vegas, Flamingo and Desert Inn, real estate along the Strip became a more precious commodity. For a while, the Riviera’s height gave it an advantage—it even advertised box seats positioned to view the atomic explosions at the Nevada Test Site—and eventually, the rest of the Strip caught up. The Riviera was groundbreaking in other ways, too. Initial headliner Liberace was paid $50,000 a week, at the time an unheard of sum that soon led to a bidding war among casinos for star performers—a trend that never really went away. (Those shaking their heads at the massive fees commanded by top DJs today can thank the Riviera.) This sort of practice led to increased competition among casinos, which had both plusses (better offerings for custom-
ers) and minuses (bankruptcies). Yes, the Riviera had money problems from the start—opening along with fve other properties will do that—but it still scuffed for a place at the top of the Strip pecking order until the mid-1980s when, buffeted by a recession, it opened the frst fast-food restaurant in a Strip casino. At the time, high-rollers were fewer to come by, and they dropped less coin than the masses of low-rollers; in fact, the most successful casinos of the late 1980s targeted the middle-class customer, leading to both a growing segmentation on the Strip and the fowering of “family-friendly” Las Vegas. Both moves were critical steps toward the growth of the 1990s. The Riviera’s apparent fate—being imploded to make way for the convention authority’s $2.3 billion Global Business District—is an indicator of where the future of Las Vegas lies. Just like when quarter slots were the growth sector in the 1980s, today’s Strip economy appears to be about everything but gambling. For proof, consider this: In fscal 2014, big Strip resorts made more money than they ever have, but gambling revenues haven’t caught up to their pre-Great Recession highs.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE L AS VEGAS NEWS BUREAU
THE LATEST
A True Game Changer
The Best Medicine Our fifth annual list of our city’s top physicians in more than 50 specialties
➜ for the past five years, Vegas Seven has produced a comprehensive guide to the Las Vegas Valley’s best doctors. Not only is this annual Top Doctors issue one of our most popular of the year, it’s also arguably the most important. See, we recognize that, outside of family, there’s probably no more important relationship in your life than the one you have with your physician. We also recognize that in today’s complicated system of health care, it’s become increasingly diffcult (especially in Southern Nevada) to fnd a quality physician whom you can depend on and trust. Because we’re not exactly medical experts ourselves, we annually remove ourselves from the Top Doctors selection process, instead
Allergy & Immunology
hiring an independent company to conduct the survey that produces the results you’ll fnd on the ensuing pages. As was the case in 2014, our survey this year was conducted by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., a New Yorkbased company that produces the America’s Top Doctors book. Castle Connolly invited all major Clark County hospitals and members of the county medical society to participate. The survey form (which can be viewed at VegasSeven.com/TopDocs2015) asked those medical professionals to recognize and reward quality with their selections. (You can read more about Castle Connolly and its survey methodology on Page 31, and view its nomination process at CastleConnolly.com.)
asthma and allergy, food allergy, eczema. MountainView Hospital, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
cardiac electrophysiology, pacemakers/defbrillators. MountainView Hospital, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
JIM CHRISTENSEN
Pulmonary Associates, 7200 Cathedral Rock Dr., Suite 170, 702-307-7707; asthma and allergy, urticaria, pediatric allergy and immunology. Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, University Medical Center.
February 26–March 4, 2015
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VegasSeven.com
VICTOR E. COHEN
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4445 S. Eastern Ave., Suite A, 702-735-1556; pediatric allergy and immunology, asthma and allergy, eczema. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. JOEL KATZ
2625 Box Canyon Dr., 702-3606100; food allergy, immunotherapy, insect allergies, asthma. DAVID H. TOTTORI
4000 E. Charleston Blvd., Suite 100, 702-432-8250;
Cardiac Electrophysiology Cardiovascular Disease ROBERT LEWIS BAKER
Nevada Cardiology Associates, 3121 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 512, 702-796-7150; sudden death prevention, radiofrequency ablation, atrial fbrillation. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. NIUTON KOIDE
HealthCare Partners Nevada, 3131 La Canada St., Suite 200, 702-933-9400; arrhythmias. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Rose de Lima Campus. FOAD MOAZEZ
Nevada Cardiology Associates, 3150 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 460, 702-233-1000; arrhythmias,
SEAN S. AMELI
400 S. Rampart Blvd., Suite 240, 702-906-1100; cholesterol/lipid disorders, echocardiographytransesophageal, preventive cardiology. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-San Martin Campus. RICHARD CHEN
Nevada Cardiology Associates, 3121 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 512, 702-796-7150; peripheral vascular disease, interventional cardiology, cardiac catheterization, angioplasty. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
All of the physicians who made this year’s list received multiple votes, and all are licensed and in good standing. Moreover, as is always the case with our Top Doctors feature, no doctor paid to be included in this list. Now, is it possible that you love your physician and won’t see his or her name on the following pages? Indeed it is. But that doesn’t mean you should panic. The fact is not every great doctor in the Valley made this year’s list. That’s the nature of surveys; there’s a margin for error. But look at it this way: This is one big, high-level, word-ofmouth referral, and if you’re looking for a primary-care doctor or specialist, we guarantee this is a good place to start.
240, 702-906-1100; peripheral vascular disease, interventional cardiology. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-San Martin Campus, MountainView Hospital. SAMUEL E. GREEN
Nevada Cardiology Associates, 3150 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 460, 702-233-1000; nuclear cardiology, echocardiographytransesophageal. MountainView Hospital THOMAS L. LAMBERT
Cardiology Specialists of Nevada, 3150 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 135, 702-598-3999; interventional cardiology, heart failure. MountainView Hospital.
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry DEBORA BARNEY
BERGE J. DADOURIAN
400 S. Rampart Blvd., Suite
2015
Camp MakeBelieve Kids, 6284 S. Rainbow Blvd., Suite
110, 702-257-0140; Asperger’s Syndrome, ADD/ADHD. NORTON ROITMAN
2340 Paseo Del Prado, Suite D-307, 702-222-1812; psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, family therapy, behavioral disorders. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
Child Neurology LINDA M. BROWN
Neurology Center of Nevada, 2430 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Suite 110, Henderson, 702-247-9994; epilepsy/ seizure disorders. SRINIVAS N. HALTHORE
Neurology Specialists, 2020 E. Desert Inn Rd., 702796-5505; epilepsy/seizure disorders, neuromuscular disorders. University Medical Center, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
T O P D O C S 2 0 1 5
Colon & Rectal Surgery Diagnostic Radiology
Women’s Cancer Center of Nevada, 3131 La Canada St., Suite 241, 702-693-6870; microsurgery, pelvic foor disorders, diverticulitis, Crohn’s Disease. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
Critical Care Medicine HIKMAT DAGHER
United Critical Care, 6040 S. Fort Apache Rd., Suite 100, 702476-4900; chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), respiratory failure. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. JOAQUIM TAVARES
United Critical Care, 6040 S. Fort Apache Rd., Suite 100, 702-476-4900; chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), lung cancer. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus.
PAUL BANDT
Desert Radiologists, 2020 Palomino Lane, Suite 100, 702-759-8606; interventional radiology, nuclear radiology. Boulder City Hospital. WHITNEY B. EDMISTER
Desert Radiologists, 2020 Palomino Lane, Suite 100, 702-7598606; thoracic imaging, cardiovascular imaging, CT scan, MRI. Boulder City Hospital. DIANNE MAZZU
Desert Radiologists, 2020 Palomino Lane, Suite 100, 702-7598606; body imaging, mammography, ultrasound, CT scan. Boulder City Hospital. ALAN WEISSMAN
Desert Radiologists, 2020 Palomino Lane, Suite 100, 702-7598606; cancer imaging, nuclear imaging, musculoskeletal imaging, nuclear medicine. Boulder City Hospital, Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center.
Dermatology MICHAEL G. BRYAN
W. REID LITCHFIELD
DOUGLAS FIFE
FREDDIE G. TOFFEL
6460 Medical Center St., Suite 350, 702-255-6647; Mohs surgery, acne, laser surgery. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. LIONEL JULIAN HANDLER
10105 Banburry Cross Dr., Suite 350, 702-243-6400; pediatric dermatology, laser surgery, cosmetic surgery. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. ROBERT STRIMLING
10105 Banburry Cross Dr., Suite 350, 702-243-6400; Mohs surgery, laser surgery, cosmetic dermatology, varicose veins. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
DR. JOEL KATZ Allergist
Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism
Las Vegas Skin & Cancer Clinics, 880 Seven Hills Dr., Suite 260, Henderson, 702-9330225; hair and nail disorders, Mohs surgery, skin cancer.
PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA
Desert Radiologists, 2020 Palomino Lane, Suite 100, 702-759-8606; neuroradiology, interventional radiology. Boulder City Hospital, Valley Hospital Medical Center.
Desert Endocrinology, 2415 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Henderson, 702-434-8400; diabetes, thyroid disorders. St. Rose Dominican Hospital Siena Campus. 2700 E. Sunset Rd., Suite D-34, 702-736-2021; diabetes, hormonal disorders. Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center. PAUL V. TOMASIC
Southwest Medical Associates, 2316 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 259, 702-877-8600; diabetes.
Family Medicine MICHAEL GUNTER
MDVIP, 7455 W. Washington Ave., Suite 445, 702-804-5138; sports medicine. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
➜ Dr. Joel Katz grew up in Johannesburg and attended medical school at the University of Witwatersrand, becoming a fully qualified doctor at age 23. He completed an internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in Cleveland, followed by two years of allergy training at National Jewish Health in Denver. Katz moved to Las Vegas and opened his practice in 1997. Here are the highlights of his recent interview with Lissa Townsend Rodgers: Many people move to Las Vegas or were told to move to the Southwest because of allergies. But it takes about four years to become completely sensitized.
So many people move here and think, “Wonderful, I’m not having my allergies anymore,” but they may get sensitized to the local pollen and have problems. We take patients who have problems with contact allergies to lots of different cosmetics, lotions, moisturizers and chemical products, and we put patches on them and see what they react to. Then we enter everything into a computer database and give them a list of all the products they can safely use. While it has a lot of good information, the Internet also has a lot of misinformation. I tell people that if they have something they’re
looking up that really concerns them, they need to talk to their doctor before believing what’s written on the Internet, because people can be tremendously misinformed. I am an absolute exercise nutcase. Whenever I’m not at work, I’m probably exercising. I have a group of doctor friends, [and] we probably hike for eight, nine hours every Sunday up in Spring Mountains, Red Rock and Mount Charleston. The hiking and getting away into the mountains just helps me decompress from my work. I’m a very big believer in exercise keeping you healthy. Whether it be allergic rhinitis, asthma, respiratory
disease, cardiac disease—if you can keep yourself in good shape and eating well, you’re going to be able to cope better with all of those disease processes. The beauty of practicing allergy, asthma and immunology is that, if you identify the problem and you tackle it correctly, you can really help patients have a really good, normal, functional life. You can take children who’ve had tremendous problems with their skin their whole lives—they really adjust their lifestyle and are embarrassed about their skin—and you can make it completely normal. So it’s a very fulfilling field to be in from that perspective.
VegasSeven.com
LESLIE K. BROWDER
RAJNEESH AGRAWAL
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University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 160, 702-671-5150; minimally invasive surgery, colon and rectal cancer, ulcerative colitis, pelvic foor disorders. University Medical Center.
February 26–March 4, 2015
OVUNC BARDAKCIOGLU
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➜ Dr. Neyland is the former chief of pediatrics at UMC and Sunrise hospitals and the current president of the Nevada chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Six years ago, she was appointed by the governor to serve on the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners. Neyland also supervises residents at three medical providers and is the chairwoman for the University of Nevada School of Medicine admissions committee. After 40 years practicing pediatrics, she still devotes the majority of her time to her passion: clinical medicine. Here are the highlights from her recent interview with Jessi C. Acuña:
DR. BEVERLY NEYLAND Pediatrician
Immunizations are a big thing of mine. There are 17 preventable diseases out there that immunizations [protect against]. Because people have had such a fear and untrue knowledge of what’s going on, the level of coverage has gone way down. That’s the reason we’re seeing outbreaks of things like pertussis [whooping cough] and measles, which will get worse unless we can get the [immunization] levels back up. I try to find out what parents’ fears are about immunizations and tell them what I know. If they’re really resistant, I tell them, “I just don’t see having someone who’s not in favor of immunizations in here with all the [other patients] who could be at risk.” Those parents have as many rights as the people who are refusing immunizations.
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Obesity in children is out of hand. I used to worry about kids 5 to 19. Now we’re seeing an increase for 2- to 5-year-olds. We’re seeing kids who are remarkably obese to the point that we’re looking at an increase in Type 2 diabetes, and that’s unacceptable. It’s all because kids are not eating properly. Parents have to find a pediatrician that they’re comfortable asking the questions that need to be asked. A lot of pediatricians allow parents when pregnant to come in and have what we call a pediatric talk about things like, “How often can I get in contact with the doctor?” or “What happens when my baby is sick?” It’s not just somebody who is going to take care of your child, but somebody who is going to educate you and educate your child.
PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA
February 26–March 4, 2015
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VegasSeven.com
Usually pediatricians are the first line of diagnosing ADHD. If it’s more extensive or if they have comorbidities other than just ADHD, then you may refer them to someone like a developmental behavioral specialist. Unfortunately, in this state, we only have one.
T O P D O C S 2 0 1 5
CareMore Medical Group, 2870 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 300, 702-735-0258; preventive medicine, women’s health, geriatric care. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. DARREN RAHAMAN
Martin Luther King Family Health Center, 1799 Mount Mariah Dr., 702-383-1961. University Medical Center. ANJALI A. REGE
HealthCare Partners Nevada, 9454 Del Webb Blvd., 702-9401580; preventive medicine. LARA WENNER
HealthCare Partners Nevada, 3960 W. Craig Rd., Suite 101, North Las Vegas, 702-473-8380.
ESTEBAN HENNINGS
3201 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 320, 702-685-7700. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. LISA ROSENBERG
Touro University Health Center, 874 American Pacifc Dr., Henderson, 702-777-4809; drugs and aging, incontinence, palliative care.
Gynecologic Oncology CAMILLE FALKNER
1397 Galleria Dr., Suite 203, Henderson, 702-476-3400; HPV-Human papillomavirus, cervical cancer, vulvar disease/cancer. Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center. NICOLA MICHAEL SPIRTOS
Gastroenterology TAREK AMMAR
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 220, 702-6715070; endoscopic ultrasound, pancreatic and biliary disease, colon and rectal cancer, digestive disorders. University Medical Center. GREGORY M. KWOK
Gastroenterology Associates, 3820 S. Hualapai Way, Suite 200, 702-796-0231; gastrointestinal functional disorders, gastroesophageal refux disease (GERD). Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center, St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus. FRANK J. NEMEC
Gastroenterology Associates, 3820 S. Hualapai Way, Suite 200, 702-796-0231; gastrointestinal functional disorders, digestive disorders. Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center, St. Rose Dominican Hospital-San Martin Campus. CHRISTIAN D. STONE
Women’s Cancer Center of Nevada, 3131 La Canada St., Suite 241, 702-693-6870; gynecologic cancers, ovarian cancer, laparoscopic surgery. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, University Medical Center.
Hand Surgery ANDREW J. BRONSTEIN
Infectious Disease BRIAN J. LIPMAN
Infectious Diseases of Southern Nevada, 10001 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 307, Henderson, 702-776-8300; AIDS/HIV, pneumonia. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus. RONALD A. SHOCKLEY
3121 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 412, 702-309-2311; AIDS/HIV. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. EUGENE L. SPECK
Infectious Disease Consultants, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 780, 702-737-0740; AIDS/ HIV. Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
Internal Medicine RAMA HAROUNI
Dignity Health Medical Group, 8689 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 105, 702-304-5900; Preventive Medicine. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-San Martin Campus.
Bronstein Hand Center, 10135 W. Twain Ave., Suite 100, 702-458-4263; wrist reconstruction, elbow surgery, pediatric hand surgery, carpal tunnel syndrome. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
STEPHEN H. MILLER
DAVID FADELL
MOHAMMED NAJMI
Hand Surgery Specialists of Nevada, 9321 W. Sunset Rd., 702-645-7800; trauma, arthritis, elbow surgery, shoulder surgery. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus.
Hematology
Internal Medicine Associates, 653 N. Town Center Dr., Suite 306, 702-243-7483; arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, concierge medicine. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. Medical Group at Sun City, 2440 Professional Ct., Suite 110, 702-240-8155; chronic illness, eating disorders, nutrition. MountainView Hospital. RUSSELL NEIBAUR
MDVIP, 2450 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Suite 150, Henderson, 866-696-3847. St. Rose Dominican HospitalSan Martin Campus.
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 220, 702-671-5070; infammatory bowel disease, digestive disorders, colon and rectal cancer. University Medical Center.
CLARK S. JEAN
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 7445 Peak Dr., 702-952-2140; hematologic malignancies, leukemia and lymphoma. MountainView Hospital.
THERESA L. STECKLER
NICHOLAS A. TIBALDI
RINAH SHOPNICK
3530 E. Flamingo Rd., Suite 100, 702-737-8657; diabetes, concierge medicine. Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center.
Southwest Medical Associates, 2316 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 280, 702-877-8330; hemorrhoids.
Cancer & Blood Specialists of Nevada, 6190 S. Fort Apache Rd., 702-822-2000; throm-
Touro University Health Center, 874 American Pacifc Dr., Henderson, 702-7774809; geriatric medicine. CANDICE H. TUNG
JOHN A. VARRAS
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 230, 702-671-5060; weight management, diabetes, heart disease, preventive medicine. University Medical Center. SANDHYA WAHI GURURAJ
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 230, 702-6715060; preventive medicine, hypertension. University Medical Center.
Interventional Cardiology
hypertension in pregnancy. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus. DAMON I. MASAKI
High Risk Pregnancy Center, 2011 Pinto Lane, Suite 200, 702-382-3200; pregnancyhigh risk, prematurity prevention. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus. PATRICIA PIERCE
High Risk Pregnancy Center, 2011 Pinto Lane, Suite 200, 702-382-3200; pregnancyhigh risk, ultrasound. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. PAUL WILKES
HealthCare Partners Nevada, 3131 La Canada St., Suite 200, 702-933-9400; angiographycoronary. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
Desert Perinatal Associates, 5761 S. Fort Apache Rd., 702341-6610; pregnancy-high risk, prematurity prevention. Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
JAMES A. LALLY
STEPHEN M. WOLD
ASHFAQ A. KHAN
Heart Center of Nevada, 700 Shadow Lane, Suite 240, 702-384-0022; arrhythmias. Centennial Hills Hospital & Medical Center, Valley Hospital Medical Center.
High Risk Pregnancy Center, 2011 Pinto Lane, Suite 200, 702-382-3200; pregnancyhigh risk. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center.
CRES P. MIRANDA JR.
Nevada Heart & Vascular Center, 3150 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 320, 702-240-6482; coronary angioplasty/stents, preventive cardiology. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
Maternal & Fetal Medicine JOSEPH ADASHEK
Desert Perinatal Associates, 5761 S. Fort Apache Rd., 702341-6610; pregnancy-high risk, prematurity prevention, prenatal diagnosis. Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. WILSON HUANG
High Risk Pregnancy Center, 2011 Pinto Lane, Suite 200, 702-382-3200; prematurity/ low birth weight infants, ultrasound. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus. BRIAN K. IRIYE
High Risk Pregnancy Center, 2011 Pinto Lane, Suite 200, 702-382-3200; prenatal diagnosis, ultrasound, diabetes in pregnancy,
Medical Oncology MARY ANN K. ALLISON
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 1505 Wigwam Pkwy., Suite 130, Henderson, 702-856-1400; breast cancer. St. Rose Dominican HospitalSiena Campus. FADI S. BRAITEH
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 3730 S. Eastern Ave., 702-952-3400; gastrointestinal cancer, breast cancer, cancer genetics, clinical trials. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center. KHOI M. DAO
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 10001 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 108, Henderson, 702-952-3444; hematologic malignancies, colon cancer, lung cancer. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus. OSCAR B. GOODMAN JR.
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 9280 W. Sunset Rd., Suite 100, 702-952-1251; genitourinary oncology, prostate cancer, bladder cancer. Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center.
VegasSeven.com
JEFFREY P. NG
Geriatric Medicine
botic disorders, hematologic disorders in cancer patients. University Medical Center, Centennial Hills Hospital & Medical Center.
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8571 W. Lake Mead Blvd., Suite 100, 702-545-0283; concierge medicine. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
February 26–March 4, 2015
SHARI KLEIN
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T O P D O C S 2 0 1 5
Nevada chief medical officer Dr. Tracey Green sheds some light on the recent measles outbreak, including how to protect yourself from infection, why Las Vegas is vulnerable to health scares and how worried we should really be about going to Disneyland. How did this outbreak happen? What we’re seeing is an increase in travelers from outside the country, along with the fact that some states have looser [immunization-]exemption requirements than our state. Because of that, there are both unvaccinated adults and children. We’re always concerned when there’s an increase of a virus like this, because we really want to protect the population with weakened immune systems. Measles is miserable, but it’s not life threatening for the majority of people. Very rarely do people have very serious side effects or complications. How worried should Valley residents be that they’re going to contract the disease? There is no reason to have [more] concern than you would for usual viruses during winter. This is less concerning than flu. There is a state law that requires you to be up to date on immunizations if you’re not an exemption, so the majority of children in schools are protected from measles. Children who, for medical or religious reasons, can’t be [immunized are still at low risk], because the majority of kids are vaccinated. It’s what you call herd immunity. So, we’re creating an environment of protection. Since measles isn’t life threatening, what would you say to parents who choose not to get their children vaccinated? When you look at the vaccine movement, it’s really important that you get valid information. I would ask parents why they wouldn’t want to vaccinate, because it’s not just about [not contracting] measles, mumps and rubella. ... It’s really about protecting the population and eliminating a disease that we can eliminate. So it’s not just about you. It’s about others you come in contact with.
February 26–March 4, 2015
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VegasSeven.com
What’s the best way to keep the disease from spreading? If you’re sick, stay home. If you’re feeling unusually ill, you need to see your [health care] provider—but call ahead if you think it’s measles, because we want our doctors’ offices to know in advance. But you’re more likely to have something other than measles.
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With so many tourists passing through town, is Las Vegas more vulnerable to these types of viruses than other cities? We’re vulnerable whenever we have increased travelers, because the potential for there to be unvaccinated people is higher. That isn’t new for our community, so we’re prepared for that population. That’s why you’ve seen isolated cases [here], but not an increased number of cases. The recent measles outbreak started at Disneyland. Knowing what you know, would you take your family to The Happiest Place on Earth right now? I would encourage people to not let this be a divergent from [traveling anywhere], because these are incidental. The good news is that, although it’s very infectious, the virus does die and you can adequately clean any surface where you could be exposed. I know my family’s going back to Disneyland, and I feel very safe about that. – Nicole Ely To see a vaccination schedule recommended for children from birth to 6 years old, visit VegasSeven.com/Measles.
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 3730 S. Eastern Ave., 702-952-3400; hematologic malignancies. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. PAUL E. MICHAEL
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 9280 W. Sunset Rd., Suite 100, 702952-1251; complementary medicine, leukemia and lymphoma. Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center. WOLFRAM E. SAMLOWSKI
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 9280 W. Sunset Rd., Suite 100, 702-952-1251; kidney cancer, melanoma, sarcoma, Merkel cell carcinoma. Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center, St. Rose Dominican Hospital-San Martin Campus. HAMIDREZA SANATINIA
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 9280 W. Sunset Rd., Suite 100, 702952-1251. Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center. JAMES D. SANCHEZ
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 7445 Peak Dr., 702-952-2140; leukemia and lymphoma, lung cancer. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. NICHOLAS J. VOGELZANG
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 3730 S. Eastern Ave., 702-952-3400; prostate cancer, mesothelioma, kidney cancer, genitourinary cancer. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center. ANN WIERMAN
Cancer & Blood Specialists of Nevada, 3150 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 200, 702-749-3700; breast cancer, lymphoma, lung cancer. MountainView Hospital, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
Nephrology ADIN BOLDUR
Kidney Specialists of Southern Nevada, 500 S. Rancho Dr., Suite 12, 702-877-1887; kidney disease, hypertension, kidney failure. Centennial Hills Hospital & Medical Center. LAWRENCE M. LEHRNER
Kidney Specialists of Southern Nevada, 500 S. Rancho Dr., Suite 12, 702-877-1887; kidney disease-chronic. University
Medical Center, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
ease, Alzheimer’s disease. University Medical Center.
SYED I. SHAH
DAVID GINSBURG
Kidney Specialists of Southern Nevada, 500 S. Rancho Dr., Suite 12, 702-877-1887; transplant medicine-kidney. University Medical Center of Southern Nevada-Las Vegas, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. MARWAN TAKIEDDINE
Nevada Kidney Disease & Hypertension, 2420 Professional Ct., Suite 150, 702-853-0090; hypertension, cholesterol/lipid disorders. Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
Neurological Surgery DEREK A. DUKE
Spine & Brain Institute, 861 Coronado Center Dr., Suite 200, Henderson, 702-9489088; brain and spinal surgery, spinal disorders, craniocervical disorders. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus. STUART SETH KAPLAN
Western Regional Center, 3061 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 200, 702-737-1948; spinal disorders, spinal surgery-pediatrics. MountainView Hospital. YEVGENIY A. KHAVKIN
653 N. Town Center Dr., Suite 308, 702-242-3223; trauma, spinal surgery, scoliosis, spinal surgery-cervical. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 220, 702-671-5070; muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), neuromuscular disorders, clinical neurophysiology. University Medical Center.
Nuclear Medicine WAYNE E. JACOBS
Red Rock Radiology, 7130 Smoke Ranch Rd., Suite 101, 702-304-8135; positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, radioimmunotherapy of cancer. MountainView Hospital. BHARAT REDDY MOCHERLA
Las Vegas Radiology, 7500 Smoke Ranch Rd., Suite 100, 702-254-5004; positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, CT scan.
Obstetrics & Gynecology VANI DANDOLU
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 120, 702-6715140; pelvic organ prolapse repair, incontinence, sexual dysfunction, uro-gynecology. University Medical Center, MountainView Hospital. GEOFFREY HSIEH
Neurology JEFFREY L. CUMMINGS
Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, 888 W. Bonneville Ave., 702-483-6000; Alzheimer’s disease, clinical trials, neuropsychiatry. Cleveland Clinic. SHANKER N. DIXIT
Neurology Center of Las Vegas, 2440 Professional Ct., Suite 150, 702-405-3015; clinical neurophysiology, stroke, epilepsy/seizure disorders, headache. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, MountainView Hospital. ERIC FARBMAN
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 220, 702-671-5070; Parkinson’s disease/movement disorders, Tourette’s syndrome, Huntington’s dis-
Women’s Cancer Center of Nevada, 3131 La Canada St., Suite 241, 702-693-6870; uro-gynecology, pelvic reconstruction. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. DONNA M. MILLER
Essential Women’s Health Associates, 2821 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Suite 130, Henderson, 702-862-8862; pregnancy-high risk, pap smear abnormalities, menopause problems. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-San Martin Campus. EDMOND E. PACK
Essential Women’s Health Associates, 2821 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Suite 130, Henderson, 702-862-8862; minimally invasive surgery, hysteroscopic surgery. St. Rose Dominican HospitalSiena Campus, Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center.
PHOTO BY GABRIEL A TROJANOWSK A
The Truth About Measles
EDWIN KINGSLEY
WELDON HAVINS
Westfeld Eye Center, 2575 Lindell Rd., 702-362-3937; reconstructive surgery, oculoplastic surgery. RODNEY HOLLIFIELD
Retina Consultants of Nevada, 653 N. Town Center Dr., Suite 518, 702-369-0200; retina/ vitreous surgery. MARIETTA NELSON
Eye Clinic of Las Vegas, 3100 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 204, 702-384-2020; pediatric ophthalmology, LASIKrefractive surgery, congenital eye disorders-rare. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, University Medical Center. LESLIE M. SIMS
5380 S. Rainbow Blvd., Suite 228, 702-998-2907; oculoplastic surgery, eyelid surgery, cosmetic surgeryeyes. Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center. C. EDWARD YEE
Westfeld Eye Center, 2575 Lindell Rd., 702-362-3937; corneal disease & surgery, LASIK-refractive surgery, cornea transplant.
Orthopedic Surgery HUGH BASSEWITZ
Desert Orthopaedic Center, 2800 E. Desert Inn Rd., Suite 100, 702-731-1616; spinal surgery, spinal disc replacement, scoliosis. Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center.
PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA
JASON H. NIELSON
Children’s Bone & Spine Surgery, 1525 E. Windmill Lane, Suite 201, 702-4346920; pediatric orthopedic surgery, pediatric sports medicine, dance medicine, arthroscopic surgery-hip. St. Rose Dominican HospitalSan Martin Campus, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. BERNARD C. ONG
8551 W. Lake Mead Blvd.,
ROMAN SIBEL
3175 St. Rose Pkwy., Suite 320, Henderson, 702-997-9833; foot and ankle deformities, Charcot foot, clubfoot, diabetic leg/foot. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus, Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center. DAVID G. STEWART JR.
Children’s Bone & Spine Surgery, 1525 E. Windmill Lane, Suite 201, 702-4346920; pediatric orthopedic surgery, scoliosis, fracturescomplex & non union. St. Rose Dominican HospitalSan Martin Campus, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. MICHAEL D. THOMAS
Nevada Orthopedic & Spine Center, 2650 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 301, 702-258-3773; pediatric orthopedic surgery, scoliosis, spinal deformity. Centennial Hills Hospital & Medical Center, St. Rose Dominican Hospital-San Martin Campus.
Otolaryngology
DR. DANIEL SUSSMAN
Dr. Daniel Sussman and his son, Asher.
Psychiatrist
SINA NASRI-CHENIJANI
3150 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 575, 702-804-4729; head and neck surgery, facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, voice disorders, thyroid and parathyroid surgery. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, MountainView Hospital. MATTHEW NG
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 5380 S. Rainbow Blvd., Suite 324, 702-992-6828; neuro-otology, skull base surgery, otology, acoustic neuroma. University Medical Center. WALTER W. SCHROEDER
ENT Consultants of Nevada, 3195 St. Rose Pkwy., Suite 210, Henderson, 702-792-6700; head and neck surgery, nasal surgery, throat disorders. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. ROBERT J. TROELL
7975 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 104, 702-242-6488; facial plastic surgery, eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, reconstructive plastic surgery. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center.
➜ After spending eight years in software and combat systems design engineering, Dr. Sussman shifted to medicine. The New York native graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and completed his psychiatry residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Practicing in the Valley since 2003, Sussman works frequently with correctional institutions and nursing homes. Here are the highlights from his recent interview with Paul Szydelko: Being an engineer felt like a consignment to mediocrity. I was trying for something more. … I thought that I might [go into] radiology, but I quickly liked family medicine. When I did rotations, I realized it was all
very cursory; the most thorough things were psychiatry and internal medicine. Psychiatry was where I belonged. Inmates are for the most part average Joes and Janes who just got in trouble with the law. Ninety-nine percent of them are polite, thankful and respectful, and I’m happy to help them. I’ve met very few [who had] something so hideous about them [or had a crime] so heinous that I didn’t think they were worthy of help. They’re going to need help anyway, because it’s their brain that took them there, and that’s what I do. The brain is yielding its mysteries steadily over time. It’s like a car. A car is going to have problems, a car’s
going to get dirty, but the problem is not getting answers. … In many regards the brain is a machine—a biochemical, electromechanical machine. We’re going to learn more how to drive this brain. We’re going to have the owner’s manual, so [people] … will know how to live and work with it. The federal government has given corporations huge incentives to implement things that are contrary to good health care. Obamacare was very compassionate to insure many of the uninsured and not allow the hideous specter of discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions. It did well in those regards. But there are also rich corporate players in
this whole game, and the [Affordable Care Act] preserved everything for them. Exercise is the closest thing to a “magic bullet.” You need at least 40 minutes of exercise at least four times a week. If you get that, you’re taking care of your machine, you’re going to ward off disease processes, you’re going to do a lot in terms of good mood stabilization and anxiety reduction. Life is a miracle, and I’d recommend not losing perspective on that. Realize the absolute gift that our adventure is. If somebody doesn’t mortgage their body for hedonistic reasons or because they feel stress, then we get a gift that [lasts] about 90 years.
VegasSeven.com
Ophthalmology
Suite 251, 702-796-7979; joint replacement, sports medicine, fractures, shoulder and knee surgery. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
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WellHealth Women’s Specialty Care, 9260 W. Sunset Rd., Suite 100, 702-255-3547; gynecology only, minimally invasive surgery, pelvic surgery. Centennial Hills Hospital & Medical Center.
February 26–March 4, 2015
K. WARREN VOLKER
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➜ Dr. Steckler is an assistant professor and provider at Touro University’s Health Center in Henderson. After graduating from the University of Texas, Houston’s Health Science Center, Steckler bounced between academic medicine and private practice, eventually landing in Las Vegas in 1993. She now works closely with medical students and mostly geriatric patients. Here are the highlights of her recent interview with Camille Cannon: I didn’t know I wanted to be a doctor until I was a senior in college. I was working in an organic chemistry lab for four years, and my professor talked me into going to medical school. He told me I was more of a “people person.” I don’t know how that reflects on my laboratory skills!
DR. THERESA STECKLER Internist
What I really like about medicine is the “whodunit” challenge of figuring out what’s wrong with somebody and how to fix it. It’s almost impossible to get bored. People who like to solve mysteries tend to go into internal medicine. We’re all addicted to crime shows. I cannot watch medical shows, though. If I watch House or any of the others, I’m just like “What?” [Dr.] House would have been fired. We don’t let doctors abuse drugs at work! And you can’t be rude to everybody anymore, I don’t care how smart you are. I’ve seen things in Las Vegas that I only read about before moving here. We have a saying in medicine: “If you hear the sound of hooves, it’s a horse. If you see stripes, it’s a zebra.” Here you see a lot of zebras. ... [A zebra would be] pheochromocytoma, which is a tumor that dumps adrenaline into your system. ... It’s not things that people have brought on themselves. It’s just here. I don’t know why.
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It’s most important to find a method of exercise that you love. You’re not going to stick with going to the gym if you find it boring and intimidating. I find it important to have an appointment, so I can’t decide that I’m too tired. I am the doctor to many doctors, and they are the worst patients. It’s an honor that they want you to take care of them, but they do what they want. I still nag them. I have the same expectations. The ones who do well are the ones who are willing to say, “I’m the one who’s the patient in this office now.” I myself am a very bad patient.
PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA
February 26–March 4, 2015
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VegasSeven.com
My patients all know that I’m going to ask them what they’re doing for exercise. I remember driving through Summerlin one morning with my daughter, and she said, “Why are all these people out walking?” And I said, “Because I said so!”
T O P D O C S 2 0 1 5
SANGHAMITRA BASU
Sans Pain Clinic, 2435 Fire Mesa St., 702-362-7246; pain-spine, headache, pain-neuropathic. Centennial Hills Hospital & Medical Center. DANIEL L. BURKHEAD
Innovative Pain Care Center, 9920 W. Cheyenne Ave., Suite 110, 702-684-7246; painchronic, pain-interventional techniques, sciatica. MICHAEL J. MCKENNA
6070 S. Fort Apache Rd., Suite 100, 702-307-7700; painchronic, pain-cancer, painback, head and neck. ANTHONY RUGGEROLI
6070 S. Fort Apache Rd., Suite 100, 702-307-7700; pain-musculoskeletal, paininterventional techniques.
Pediatric Cardiology
ABRAHAM ROTHMAN
Children’s Heart Center Nevada, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 690, 702-732-1290; interventional cardiology. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, University Medical Center.
WILLIAM J. CASTILLO
Children’s Heart Center Nevada, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 690, 702-732-1290; fetal cardiology, echocardiography. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, University Medical Center. WILLIAM N. EVANS
Children’s Heart Center Nevada, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 690, 702-7321290. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. ALVARO GALINDO
Children’s Heart Center Nevada, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 690, 702-732-1290; interventional cardiology, cardiac catheterization. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, University Medical Center. GARY A. MAYMAN
Children’s Heart Center Ne-
PISESPONG PATAMASUCON
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 315, 702-9926868; antibiotic resistance, HIV, fungal infections. University Medical Center.
Pediatric Endocrinology Pediatric Nephrology WILLIAM LEE HOLM
Dignity Health Medical Group, 10001 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 209, Henderson, 702-616-5865; growth disorders, thyroid disorders. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus.
Pediatric Gastroenterology HOWARD I. BARON
Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition, 3196 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 309, 702-791-0477; infammatory bowel disease, eosinophilic esophagitis, gastrointestinal motility disorders. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
RUBEN J. ACHERMAN
Children’s Heart Center Nevada, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 690, 702-732-1290; neonatal cardiology, arrhythmias, fetal echocardiography. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, University Medical Center.
of Medicine, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 315, 702992-6868; neonatal infections, vaccines, immune defciency, AIDS/HIV. University Medical Center.
MICHAEL O. AIGBE
Children’s Nephrology Clinic, 7271 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 110, 702-639-1700; kidney disease, kidney failure, hypertension. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, University Medical Center.
Pediatric Otolaryngology TSUNG JU O-LEE
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 5380 S. Rainbow Blvd., Suite 324, 702-9926828; airway disorders, ear infections, sleep apnea, hearing loss. University Medical Center.
Pediatric Pulmonology
JONATHAN BERNSTEIN
CRAIG T. NAKAMURA
ALEXANDRA WALSH
Children’s Specialty Center, 3121 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 300, 702-732-1493; bone marrow transplant, bleeding/ coagulation disorders, lymphoma. University Medical Center, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
Pediatric Infectious Disease ECHEZONA E. EZEANOLUE
University of Nevada School
Plastic Surgery
CLARE CLOSE
GOESEL A. ANSON
2653 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Suite 100, Henderson, 702220-4006; genitourinary congenital anomalies, fetal urology, genitourinary disorders, hypospadias. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus, MountainView Hospital. ANDREW H. HWANG
Urology Specialists of Nevada, 653 N. Town Center Dr., Suite 407, 702-728-5686; transplantkidney-pediatric, endourology. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-San Martin Campus, University Medical Center.
Pediatrics JAMES BAKERINK
Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Children’s Specialty Center, 3121 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 300, 702-732-1493; hemophilia, bone marrow transplant. University Medical Center, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
Pediatric Urology
Children’s Lung Specialists, 3820 Meadows Lane, 702-598-4411; asthma, lung disease, sleep disorders/ apnea, cystic fbrosis. University Medical Center. DAVID P. PARKS
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 315, 702-992-6868; lung disease, cystic fbrosis, pneumonia. University Medical Center, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
Pediatric Surgery MICHAEL SCHEIDLER
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 3121 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 400, 702-6502500; trauma. University Medical Center.
4785 S. Durango Dr., Suite 101, 702-889-8444; newborn care. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. BLAIR DUDDY
HealthCare Partners Nevada, 3150 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 260, 702-870-2099; diabetes, nutrition. MountainView Hospital. RENU JAIN
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 315, 702-992-6868; newborn care, child abuse. University Medical Center. KAMI LARSEN
Cambridge Family Health Center, 3900 Cambridge Ave., Suite 101, 702-307-5415. BEVERLY NEYLAND
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1524 Pinto Lane, third foor, 702-383-3642. University Medical Center.
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation BEVINS K. CHUE
1669 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Suite 100, Henderson, 702-3861041; neuromuscular disorders. HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Henderson. NIANJUN TANG
Centennial Pain Relief Network, 4454 N. Decatur Blvd., 702-839-1203; pain management.
8530 W. Sunset Rd., Suite 130, 702-822-2100; cosmetic surgery face and body, breast cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, liposuction and body contouring. Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center. ARTHUR MICHAEL CAMBEIRO
2370 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Suite 130, Henderson, 702566-8300; cosmetic surgeryface and breast, body contouring. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus. MICHAEL C. EDWARDS
8530 W. Sunset Rd., Suite 130, 702-822-2100; breast cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, liposuction and body contouring, body contouring after weight loss. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. WARREN TRACY HANKINS
60 N. Pecos Rd., Henderson, 702-948-7595; cosmetic surgery-face and breast, body contouring. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. TERRENCE B. HIGGINS
8530 W. Sunset Rd., Suite 130, 702-882-2100; liposuction and body contouring, breast surgery, facial rejuvenation, microsurgery. Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center. KAYVAN T. KHIABANI
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 190, 702-671-5110; hand surgery, microsurgery, migraine, reconstructive surgery. University Medical Center. JOHN M. MENEZES
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 190, 702-671-5110; craniofacial surgery, cosmetic and reconstructive Surgery. University Medical Center. ANDRES G. RESTO
1485 W. Warm Springs Rd., Suite 105, Henderson, 702-791-3525; cosmetic surgery-face and body, liposuction and body contouring, breast augmentation. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. WILLIAM ARNOLD ZAMBONI
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 190, 702-671-5110; microsurgery, limb surgery/reconstruction, hyperbaric medicine, wound healing/care. University Medical Center.
VegasSeven.com
Pain Medicine
vada, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 690, 702-732-1290; fetal echocardiography. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, University Medical Center.
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University of Nevada School of Medicine, 3150 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 112, 702-671-6480; head and neck surgery. University Medical Center.
February 26–March 4, 2015
ROBERT C. WANG
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T O P D O C S 2 0 1 5
Free medical clinic cares for those who can’t care for themselves
Dr. Florence Jameson of Volunteers in Medicine.
Hospital Medical Center.
Psychiatry DANIEL SUSSMAN
4205 Mont Blanc Way, 702-493-5203; psychoanalysis, geriatric psychiatry.
February 26–March 4, 2015
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VegasSeven.com
JAMES VILT
Seven Hills Hospital, 3021 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Henderson, 702-646-5000; addiction/substance abuse, drug abuse, alcohol abuse. Seven Hills Hospital.
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Pulmonary Disease JOHN B. COLLIER
Lung Center of Nevada, 3150 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 125, 702-8690855; critical care, lung disease, sleep medicine. MountainView Hospital, Summerlin
HIDENOBU SHIGEMITSU
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 230, 702-671-5060; sarcoidosis, pulmonary fbrosis, interstitial lung disease, thromboembolic disorders. University Medical Center. GEORGE S. TU
Lung Center of Nevada, 3150 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 125, 702-8690855; sleep medicine, emphysema, pulmonary fbrosis. MountainView Hospital, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
Radiation Oncology MICHAEL JOHN ANDERSON
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 3730 S. Eastern Ave., 702-952-3400; head and
➜ Imagine being a 50-year-old woman who has lost virtually everything: First, your son dies in Iraq. Then you lose your job, and with it, your health benefits. Then comes severe stress, which leads to hypertension, which brings on debilitating migraines—all of it impeding your ability to search for a new job. On top of that, Medicaid isn’t an option because of strict eligibility requirements, so you can no longer afford your prescriptions. Where do you turn? If you’re this particular patient or one of the more than 300,000 other Las Vegans who are left out of the health care system—either because they don’t meet minimum workplace benefit requirements or have too high of an income to be eligible for Medicaid—you turn to Volunteers in Medicine of Southern Nevada. Opened in 2010 by Dr. Florence Jameson, a gynecologist and Silver State Health Insurance Exchange board member, the free clinic is located about two miles east of UNLV and staffed with 432 medical volunteers. “We have a high rate of premature death due to lack of access to health care,” Jameson says. “It’s like a Third World country right here in this amazing destination city.” Since opening, Volunteers in Medicine has proven to be a sanctuary
neck cancer, prostate cancer, brachytherapy, intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). St. Rose Dominican HospitalRose de Lima Campus, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. DAN LEE CURTIS
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 655 N. Town Center Dr., 702-233-2200; prostate cancer, brachytherapy, head and neck cancer, skin cancer. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
FARZANEH FARZIN
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 3730 S. Eastern Ave., 702-952-3400; breast cancer, intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), stereotactic radiosurgery. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Rose de Lima Campus, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
BRIAN D. LAWENDA
21st Century Oncology, 3006
Volunteers in Medicine, 4700 Harrison Dr., 702-967-0530; VSMN.org.
S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 100, 702-894-5100; prostate cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
radiosurgery, brain tumors, prostate cancer. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
RAUL T. MEOZ
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 7445 Peak Dr., 702-952-2140; prostate cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, stereotactic radiosurgery. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 9280 W. Sunset Rd., Suite 100, 702-952-1251; brachytherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. TAM NGUYEN
21st Century Oncology, 52 N. Pecos Rd., Henderson, 702-990-4761; head and neck cancer, stereotactic radiosurgery, brachytherapy, prostate cancer. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. SUSAN A. REISINGER
21st Century Oncology, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 100, Henderson, 702-894-5100; breast cancer, stereotactic
MICHAEL T. SINOPOLI
BEAU JAMES W. TOY
Radiation Oncology Centers of Nevada, 624 S. Tonopah Dr., 702-463-9100; stereotactic body radiation therapy, image guided radiotherapy (IGRT). Valley Hospital Medical Center. PAUL TREADWELL
21st Century Oncology, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 100, 702-990-4767; pediatric cancers, breast cancer, gynecologic cancers, Hodgkin’s lymphoma. MountainView Hospital.
PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA
HEALING HANDS
for thousands of patients. In addition to treating chronic illnesses, the clinic offers preventive care, such as screenings and vaccinations. Last year alone, there were 5,015 patient visits. “We handle their broken bodies, and their broken hearts and souls,” Jameson says. “We try to give them a medical home.” Jameson started Volunteers in Medicine for a simple reason: Giving back is in her DNA. She was one of five children of a single mother who had limited means, so medical care was more of a luxury. Luckily, the family’s local church and a general practitioner helped Jameson’s mother with necessary resources and care. That kindness inspired Jameson to pay it forward—and encourage other medical professionals to do the same— through Volunteers in Medicine, which survives solely on donations of money and services. Each year, Jameson says she and her staff raise $1 million through events and fundraisers but provide $4 million in services. Now, thanks to the help of 40 community partners and local philanthropists, Volunteers in Medicine is expanding with a new Downtown clinic. Expected to open in the fall at the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Madison Avenue, the new location will offer basic health services, plus dental and mental health care. Jameson expects to see 10,000 patients within the first two years of the clinic opening. “It will be a symbol of good will,” she says, “and really show what a community can do when it comes together.” – Angeline Ramirez
JEFFREY FISCH
Green Valley Fertility Partners, 2510 Wigwam Pkwy., Suite 201, Henderson, 702-722-2229; infertility-IVF, menstrual disorders. Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center. EVA D. LITTMAN
Red Rock Fertility Center, 6410 Medical Center St., Suite A, 702-749-4834; infertilityIVF, preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center, Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center. BRUCE S. SHAPIRO
Fertility Center of Las Vegas, 8851 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 100, 702-254-1777; infertilityIVF. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
Rheumatology EWA OLECH
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 220, 702-671-5070; lupus/SLE, osteoporosis, musculoskeletal imaging, clinical trials. University Medical Center. CHRISTIANNE M. YUNG
2482 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Suite 130, Henderson, 702-614-6868; autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus/SLE.
Advanced Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, 8420 W. Warm Springs Rd., Suite 100, 702-740-5327; arthroscopic surgery, shoulder and knee surgery, shoulder arthroscopic surgery, fractures. Centennial Hills Hospital & Medical Center, Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center. RANDALL YEE
Advanced Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, 8420 W. Warm Springs Rd., Suite 100, 702-740-5327; arthroscopic surgery, cartilage damage and transplant, knee surgery. Centennial Hills Hospital & Medical Center, Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center.
Surgery SOUZAN EL-EID
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, 9280 W. Sunset Rd., Suite 100, 702-255-1133; breast cancer and surgery, tumor surgery. Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. CHRISTOPHER J. FISHER
Desert Surgical Associates, 3196 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 101-A, 702-369-7152; trauma, critical care. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. MARK T. HOEPFNER
700 Shadow Lane, Suite 335, 702-382-6591; gastrointestinal surgery, laparoscopic surgery. Valley Hospital Medical Center, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. DANIEL KIRGAN
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston
DEBORAH ANN KUHLS
University of Nevada School of Medicine, 1707 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 160, 702-6715150; trauma, critical care. University Medical Center. ALLAN DAVID MACINTYRE
Desert Surgical Associates, 3196 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 101-A, 702-369-7152; obesity/bariatric surgery, robotic surgery, trauma/critical care, minimally invasive surgery. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. KIARASH L. MIRKIA
Botanical Med/Surg, 5052 S. Jones Blvd., Suite 135, 702-902-2400; minimally invasive surgery, herniacomplex, wound healing/care, pancreatic surgery. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. IRWIN B. SIMON
Vegas Valley Vein Institute, 2450 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Suite 100, Henderson, 702341-7608; minimally invasive vascular surgery, vein disorders, varicose veins, hair restoration/transplant. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus, St. Rose Dominican Hospital-San Martin Campus. FRANCIS W. TENG
Advanced Surgical Care, 3150 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 508, 702838-5888; obesity/bariatric surgery, minimally invasive surgery, laparoscopic abdominal surgery, robotic surgery. MountainView Hospital, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
ABOUT THE TOP DOCTORS SURVEY … ➜ Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. is a health care research and information company founded in 1991 by a former medical college board chairman and president to help guide consumers to America’s top doctors and top hospitals. Castle Connolly’s established survey and research process, under the direction of an M.D., involves many tens of thousands of physicians, as well as academic medical centers, specialty hospitals, and regional and community hospitals all across the nation. Castle Connolly’s physician-led team of researchers follows a rigorous screening process to select top doctors on both the national and regional levels. Its online nominations process—located at CastleConnolly.com/ Nominations—is open to all licensed physicians in America who are
Urology Specialists of Nevada, 56 N. Pecos Rd., Suite B, Henderson, 702-877-0814; prostate disease, vasectomy and vasectomy reversal. St. Rose Dominican HospitalSan Martin Campus, St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Rose de Lima Campus.
QUYNH FEIKES
Cardiovascular Surgery of Southern Nevada, 5320 S. Rainbow Blvd., Suite 282, 702-737-3808; cardiothoracic surgery, endovascular surgery, esophageal surgery. St. Rose Dominican HospitalRose de Lima Campus. JUAN ENRIQUE MARTIN JR.
Cardiovascular Surgery of Southern Nevada, 5320 S. Rainbow Blvd., Suite 282, 702-737-3808; cardiac surgery, heart-valve surgeryaortic, minimally invasive surgery. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Rose de Lima Campus, Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center. MICHAEL G. WOOD
3150 N. Tenaya Way, Suite 140, 702-240-2963; cardiac surgery-adult, heart valve disease, thoracic aortic surgery, mitral valve surgery. MountainView Hospital.
Urology OMID LESANI
Las Vegas Urology, 7150 W. Sunset Rd., 702-233-0727; reconstructive urologic surgery, robotic surgery, urinary reconstruction. Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center. MICHAEL P. VERNI
Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery
JASON ZOMMICK
653 N. Town Center Dr., Suite 302, 702-212-3428; pediatric urology, endourology. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, MountainView Hospital.
Vascular & Interventional Radiology STEVEN H. DAVIS
Red Rock Radiology, 7130 Smoke Ranch Rd., Suite 101, 702-304-8135; angioplasty and stent placement, radiofrequency tumor ablation, chemoembolization. MountainView Hospital. AARON PETERSON
Red Rock Radiology, 7130 Smoke Ranch Rd., Suite 101, 702-304-8135. MountainView Hospital, Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center.
Vascular Surgery EARL COTTRELL
Vegas Vein & Cosmetic Center, 7200 W. Cathedral Rock Dr., Suite 130, 702-228-8600; endovascular surgery, varicose veins. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center. BRUCE HIRSCHFELD
Vegas Vein & Cosmetic Center, 7200 W. Cathedral Rock Dr., Suite 130, 702-2288600; endovascular surgery, varicose veins. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center.
able to nominate physicians in any medical specialty and in any part of the country, as well as indicate whether the nominated physician is, in their opinion, among the best in their region in their medical specialty or among the best in the nation in their medical specialty. Careful screening of doctors’ educational and professional experience is essential before final selection is made among those physicians most highly regarded by their peers. The result: We identify the top doctors in America and provide you, the consumer, with detailed information about their education, training and special expertise in our paperback guides, national and regional magazine “Top Doctors” features, and online directories. Doctors do not and cannot pay to be selected and profiled as Castle Connolly Top Doctors. Physicians selected for inclusion in this magazine’s Top Doctors feature may also appear as Regional Top Doctors online at CastleConnolly.com, or in one of Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors™ guides, such as America’s Top Doctors® or America’s Top Doctors® for Cancer.
VegasSeven.com
Fertility Center of Las Vegas, 8851 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 100, 702-254-1777; Polycystic ovarian syndrome, infertilityIVF. Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
TIMOTHY TRAINOR
Cardiovascular Surgery of Southern Nevada, 5320 S. Rainbow Blvd., Suite 282, 702-737-3808; thoracic aortic surgery, cardiac surgery, vascular surgery. St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Rose de Lima Campus, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
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SAID T. DANESHMAND
Sports Medicine
NANCY DONAHOE
February 26–March 4, 2015
Reproductive Endocrinology
Blvd., Suite 160, 702-671-5150; cancer surgery, breast cancer and surgery, melanoma, sarcoma. University Medical Center, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.
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2015
MEDICAL PROFILES
[ Special Advertising Section ]
2015
MEDICAL PROFILES
[ Special Advertising Section ]
Eva Littman MD, FACOG Red Rock Fertility Center specializes in helping couples achieve their dreams of becoming parents and assisting patients in preserving their fertility so that they are able to have children at the opportune time in their lives. Founded in 2008 by Practice Director Dr. Eva Littman, Red Rock Fertility Center has grown to be one of the most successful fertility centers on the West Coast. The practice is proud to specialize in challenging cases and helping patients whom other doctors have deemed as having a slim chance of conceiving. Along with having an amazing, compassionate spirit, Dr. Littman completed her medical training at some of the world’s leading medical centers and universities, including Stanford University and Duke University.
RED ROCK FERTILITY CENTER 6410 Medical Center, Suite A Las Vegas, NV 89148
Shannon McGrath, the nurse practitioner, has 14 years of experience in the feld. She received her degree from the University of California, San Diego and earned her Master of Science in Nursing from Vanderbilt University.
870 Seven Hills Dr., Suite 103 Henderson, NV 89052 702.789.7589 www.redrockfertility.com
Dr. Littman has contributed to worldwide knowledge of specifc infertility problems by publishing several articles in peer-reviewed journals and regularly presenting at international meetings and local conferences. She has also helped mentor future OB-GYN residents
by serving as an associate clinical professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. In 2013, she was named a Women to Watch Honoree by Vegas INC. Some of her previously recognized work has been for her groundbreaking research. She was awarded the Pacifc Coast Reproductive Society Prize Paper Award for research entitled “IGF2 Imprinting of Pre-Implantation Mouse Embryos.” In addition to this, she has received the Academic Medicine Fellowship Award by the National Medicine Foundation. Dr. Littman is the only female reproductive endocrinologist in Las Vegas and one of the Valley’s most trusted, knowledgeable and honored fertility experts. She offers an outstanding level of empathy and a broader amount of compassion for her patients given that she has personally undergone some of the procedures involved with fertility treatment. Dr. Littman has three children of her own, and she understands the desires of her patients to conceive. Dr. Littman frequently assists patients with less than a fve percent chance of pregnancy to welcome new lives into their families.
2015
MEDICAL PROFILES
[ Special Advertising Section ]
Dr. Arthur M. Cambeiro MD Arthur M. Cambeiro, M.D., is a native of Las Vegas and a graduate of Bishop Gorman Preparatory High School. Dr. Cambeiro graduated from the University of Southern California in the Psychobiology Honors Program and received his Doctor of Medicine Degree from the University of Colorado. He continued his education, specializing in cosmetic, plastic and reconstructive surgery at the worldfamous Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. At the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Cambeiro volunteered with Global Health Outreach, donating his surgical skills to correct congenital facial defects on Vietnamese children. His experience at the Mayo Clinic has been invaluable, and he is extremely proud to have been a part of an organization whose hospitals are consistently ranked as one of the top hospitals in the nation (U.S. News and World Report).
SURGISPA 2370 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy, Suite 130 Henderson · (702) 566-8300 www.surgispa.net
Dr. Cambeiro is an extensively experienced Cosmetic Surgeon. He is a triple board-certifed surgeon through the Nation Board of Medical Examiners, American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery, and consistently scored in the top 95th percentile in the nation on his certifying exams. Dr. Cambeiro has been recognized nationally, regionally and locally with multiple awards for his skills, compassion and aesthetic results. He has been named one of Americas Top Plastic Surgeons and one of Las Vegas’ Top Doctors in plastic surgery every year since 2005. He also has been named Top 40 under 40 and has been featured in Glamour, Allure and Newsweek magazines. Continuing to give back to his community, he serves on the Foundation Board of Directors and the
Community Board of Directors for all three St. Rose Hospitals. Dr. Cambeiro has been awarded an appointment to NOVO, the National Advisory Council for Leaders in Breast Aesthetics, an elite group of fewer than 100 plastic surgeons who are at the forefront of aesthetic breast and facial surgery in the United States. Dr. Cambeiro utilizes his knowledge in psychology coupled with his surgical experience and technical skills to focus on the patient’s needs of physical beauty as well as their inner-self. Dr. Cambeiro’s new multimillion-dollar plastic surgery, skin and laser center in Henderson allows patients to achieve their goals through various traditional and safe innovative means. Through his new center, Dr. Cambeiro continues to offer superior leading-edge facial, body and advanced breast surgeries. Additionally, candidates for noninvasive or minimally invasive facial or body improvements can beneft from cutting-edge advancements offered through this center. Dr. Cambeiro offers a wide array of technically advanced lasers and rejuvenation equipment including: Ulthera (Only FDA-approved laser to lift the face), Coolsculpting (freezes and removes fat), Cellulaze (the only FDA-approved laser to treat cellulite long term), Smart Lipo Triplex (melts fat and tightens skin with minimal downtime), Photo-facials and laser hair removal. Dr. Cambeiro and his exceptionally trained staff can guide patients to the treatments that best suit them. At Dr. Cambeiro’s offce, the needs and safety of the patient always come frst.
2015
MEDICAL PROFILES
[ Special Advertising Section ]
Randall Yee DO Dr. Randall Yee, a board-certifed orthopedic surgeon and founder of Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, has been providing care in the feld of orthopedics for over 13 years. Dr. Yee completed his residency training in Chicago, working at many prestigious medical centers such as Northwestern Memorial and University of Chicago Hospitals. Following his residency he completed advanced fellowship training in sports medicine, working with the U.S. Ski Team in Lake Tahoe. Since then, he has provided care for a vast array of athletes, ranging from high school stars to weekend warriors to professional
ADVANCE ORTHOPEDICS & SPORTS MEDICINE 8420 W. Warm Springs Road 2451 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy., Suite 130 SAME-DAY APPOINTMENT AVAILABLE 702.740.5327 • www.advorthopedics.com
athletes. Not only is Dr. Yee an accomplished surgeon, he is also an educator as an associate professor at Touro University. Additionally, he is the founder and chairman of the FIRST Orthopedic Residency Training Program in Nevada, educating new surgeons in the exciting feld of orthopedic surgery. Dr. Yee has also been recognized locally and nationally as a “Top Doc” in his area of medicine.
2015
MEDICAL PROFILES
[ Special Advertising Section ]
Timothy Trainor MD Dr. Trainor has been voted as a Top Doc by multiple magazines in Nevada and nationally. Dr. Trainor graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame. He received his M.D. from Northwestern University, where he was elected into the AOA medical honor society. He completed his orthopedic surgery residency at Georgetown University. After residency, Dr. Trainor served in the U.S. Navy, providing orthopedic surgical care for our Armed Forces. In 2004, Dr. Trainor was appointed to the teaching faculty of the Tripler
ADVANCE ORTHOPEDICS & SPORTS MEDICINE 8420 W. Warm Springs Road 6850 N. Durango Dr., Suite 218 SAME-DAY APPOINTMENT AVAILABLE 702.740.5327 • www.advorthopedics.com
Army Medical Center, where he taught orthopedic sports medicine to orthopedic residents. He is also board-certifed in the subspecialty of Orthopedic Sports Medicine. He is currently the Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at Centennial Hills Hospital and is the Consulting Physician for the Nevada Athletic Commission.
2015
MEDICAL PROFILES
[ Special Advertising Section ]
Helga F. Pizio MD, FACS Education Dr. Helga F. Pizio graduated with top honors from University of Miami School of Medicine in 1992. Following her medical degree, Dr. Pizio completed her Ophthalmology residency at the Dean McGee Eye Institute in Oklahoma where she studied under Dr. David W. Parke and Dr. Gregory L. Skuta. The McGee Eye Institute has more than 300 faculty and staff and consistently ranks among the top institutions nationally in terms of NIH vision research grant support. Dr. Pizio is an active clinical professor at the University Of Nevada School Of Medicine and an adjunct professor for Southern California College of Optometry.
accoladEs Dr. Helga F. Pizio is certifed by the American Board of Ophthalmology and is one of the most experienced practicing ophthalmic surgeons in Southern Nevada. A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons since 1998, Dr. Pizio has been offering her services in Ophthalmology to Las Vegas and the surrounding area since the Fall of 1996. In the Summer of 2008, Dr. Pizio founded New Eyes, a comprehensive eye care facility dedicated to providing patients with advanced eye surgery, treatments to improve visual acuity, and options to prevent vision impairment caused by eye conditions and diseases.
arEas of ExpErtisE
NEW EYES LAS VEGAS: 501 Rose St., Suite 150 SUMMERLIN: 10105 Banburry Cross Dr., Suite 255 GREEN VALLEY: 7305 S. Pecos Rd., Suite 101 BOULDER CITY: 1627 Nevada Hwy. CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT 702.485.5000 • www.neweyeslasvegas.com
Dr. Helga F. Pizio is respected throughout the ophthalmological community for her expertise as a cataract surgeon. Specializing in the latest and most advanced techniques, Dr. Pizio is experienced with laserassisted cataract surgery, various intraocular lens implants and treatment options to help patients affected by cataracts improve their eyesight and enhance their lifestyle. Performing more than 2,000 surgeries each year, Dr. Helga F. Pizio is the trusted eye surgeon for thousands of patients in Southern Nevada, including many of her fellow doctors, surgeons, and their friends and family members. Dr. Pizio is also skilled
at procedures such as comprehensive eyelid surgery and treatments that rejuvenate the appearance of areas around the eyes.
nEw EyEs Under the direction of Dr. Helga F. Pizio, New Eyes is a comprehensive ophthalmology practice that provides excellent quality medical and surgical eye care at four offce locations in Las Vegas, Green Valley, Summerlin and Boulder City. Dr. Pizio has established an excellent reputation and relationship with patients and referring doctors in Las Vegas since 1996. With her extensive experience and personal approach, she has developed a very unique style of combining the highest level of clinical and surgical eye care while providing patients with a pleasant and comfortable experience.
what makEs your practicE uniquE and diffErEnt, and why would i want to choosE you? It is our mission to provide a good experience for patients while focusing on the best medical and surgical results. New Eyes offces are designed and maintained for the optimum patient experience: comfortable, clean, conveniently located, and feature the modern technology of diagnostic equipment and multi-media education. New Eyes staff is selected for their enthusiastic attitude and trained in technical skills and good customer service. New Eyes doctors are caring, respectful of patients’ time, boardcertifed, well-trained, and experienced in surgical and medical eye care: Helga F. Pizio, MD, FACS Refractive Cataract Surgery and Medical Eyelid Surgery Ksenia Stafeeva, MD Complex Corneal Surgery, LASIK, and Cataract Surgery Ilan Reizes, MD Glaucoma Management, Diabetes, and General Ophthalmology Jeffrey K. Austin, OD, FAAO Comprehensive Medical Eye Care
2015
MEDICAL PROFILES
[ Special Advertising Section ]
Desert Radiologists Dedicated to exceeding the expectations of patients, referring physicians and the health-care community. Desert Radiologists continues its commitment to the community with the highest level of medical imaging services, all board-certifed radiologists, and the foresight to add technology and expand to meet the Valley’s growing imaging needs. This has been the practice’s mission since its inception in 1966, and it’s demonstrated through its ascension to one of the country’s largest and most successful private radiology practices. Reinforcing this commitment, Desert Radiologists was the frst radiology center in the southwest United States to receive the prestigious Diagnostic Imaging Center of Excellence (DICOE) accreditation from the American College of Radiology (ACR). Achieving DICOE goes beyond standard accreditation to recognize best-quality imaging practices and diagnostic care with a comprehensive assessment of the entire medical imaging enterprise, including structure and outcomes.
DESERT RADIOLOGISTS 7200 Cathedral Rock Drive, Suite 230, Las Vegas, NV 89128 3920 S. Eastern, Suite 100, Las Vegas, NV 89119 2811 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway, Henderson, NV 89052 2020 Palomino Lane, Suite 100, Las Vegas, NV 89106 4880 S. Wynn Road, Las Vegas, NV 89103 31 N. Nellis Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89110 Desert Vascular Institute (offers comprehensive interventional services) 3930 S. Eastern Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89119 (702) 759-8600 www.desertrad.com
“While Desert Radiologists has been accredited in all modalities since the ACR introduced accreditation in 1987, we went through an even more rigorous review of all operational processes for DICOE,” said Dr. Randal Shelin, president of Desert Radiologists. “This accreditation is even more meaningful because DICOE looked at all of our offces, not just one location. Our entire staff is proud of this achievement and their dedication to exceeding industry standards.” With its commitment to providing the most advanced imaging available, Desert Radiologists is the frst and only outpatient imaging group in Southern Nevada to offer 3-D mammography for any woman undergoing a screening mammogram. Through this groundbreaking technology, breast specialists examine tissue layer by layer and can detect 41 percent more invasive breast cancers.
The result allows cancer detection at an earlier, more treatable stage, which ultimately saves lives. The technology also reduces false positives by up to 40 percent, thus eliminating unnecessary follow-up exams. For better patient accessibility and convenience, Desert Radiologists operates six full-service outpatient facilities throughout Las Vegas and Henderson. The newest Nellis Boulevard location is the only imaging center east of Interstate 15 and U.S. 95, and there are plans to open a seventh center in 2015. The practice is also the radiology provider for 11 Nevada hospitals, several out-ofstate hospitals, a large cancer-care organization, multispecialty medical centers and smaller facilities in the western United States. Desert Radiologists has nearly 65 board-certifed, subspecialty-trained radiologists. Their subspecialty experience includes musculoskeletal imaging, nuclear medicine, pediatrics, oncologic imaging, interventional and neuroradiology. “We have a tremendous group of physicians and consider all of them leaders and innovators in medical imaging,” said William Moore, CEO of Desert Radiologists. “We’re particularly thrilled that fve of them have been recognized with ‘Top Doctor’ honors for at least two years in a row, and proudly congratulate Drs. Rajneesh Agrawal, Paul Bandt, Whitney Edmister, Dianne Mazzu and Alan Weisman on this welldeserved accolade. “The independent Top Doctors ranking is powerful evidence of the strength of Desert Radiologists’ physicians, who make up Nevada’s premier radiology group, and one of the country’s top private practices.”
2015
MEDICAL PROFILES
[ Special Advertising Section ]
Tom Umbach MD, FACS whErE compassion mEEts ExpErtisE
award-winning surgEon and staff
Dr. Tom Umbach—Dr. Tom, as his patients affectionately call him—was frst drawn to bariatrics after discovering the incredible potential it had in signifcantly reducing the effects of diabetes or eliminating diabetes altogether. His journey was then fueled by the stories that came in day after day: obesity since childhood, failed diet after failed diet, severe knee pain and joint complications, depression, etc. The thought of being able to put an end to people’s suffering was irresistible. Dr. Tom’s compassion, coupled with his true gift at bariatric surgery, has made him one of the most successful surgeons in the nation.
Dr. Tom has been recognized by Newsweek as one of the “Nation’s Leading Bariatric Surgeons” and by The New Economy as “Best Healthcare Consultant” and “Best Medical Tourism Provider.”
with you EvEry stEp of thE way Dr. Tom and his staff do everything in their power to make their clients as comfortable as possible. Surgeries are performed at Warm Springs Surgical Center in Las Vegas, a state-of-the-art surgical center designed with patient comfort and safety in mind. Yet another signifcant differentiation between Blossom Bariatrics and other providers is the unparalleled support each patient receives. From preoperative seminars, physical and psychological exams, and insurance assistance to postoperative support through oneof-a-kind programs designed to aid in nutrition, ftness, and mental health, Blossom Bariatrics plays a signifcant role in every stage of the journey.
BLOSSOM BARIATRICS 3235 E. Warm Springs Rd., Suite 100 Las Vegas, NV 89120 702.463.3300 • www.blossombariatrics.com
Additionally, as individuals seek out Dr. Tom from all over the world for his expertise, exceptional patient outcomes and post-surgical support, Blossom Bariatrics features a worldclass concierge service. And at a fraction of the cost charged at other bariatric centers, the trip to Las Vegas and enjoying discounted lodging and entertainment simply makes sense.
And working together with his staff— many of whom are past bariatric patients themselves—Dr. Tom has been able to pass signifcant savings on to his patients, resulting in the most affordable bariatric care available. Truly, compassion meets expertise at Blossom Bariatrics.
why Bariatric surgEry? “People come to me after having attempted every diet known to man,” says Dr. Tom. “The truth is that dieting doesn’t work. Due to a combination of several natural factors, our bodies actually fght weight loss. Bariatric surgery effectively combats these forces and helps every patient who follows the guidelines—not just the lucky—lose weight for good.” An advocate for education, Dr. Tom has created an ebook all about “Why Diets Don’t Work and How You Can Finally Achieve Permanent Weight Loss.” Secure your free copy by visiting BlossomBariatrics.com/LuckyMe or scanning the QR code.
2015
MEDICAL PROFILES
[ Special Advertising Section ]
Barton H. Foutz DDS For more than 25 years Dr. Barton H. Foutz has provided Nevada families with the fnest dental care that commitment and technology can provide. He comes from a long line of dental practitioners, beginning with his great-grandfather who was one of the frst dentists in the region, during the 1800s. He was born in Japan where his father served in the United States Air Force as a dentist, making it clear that dentistry is in his blood. Following in his fathers’, grandfathers’ and great grandfathers’ footsteps, Dr. Foutz decided to make a career out of dentistry. Having grown up and attended Chaparral High School in Las Vegas, Dr. Foutz has made it a point to be active in the community. As a young man he earned the rank of Eagle Scout and still remains active in the BSA as a Venturing Crew Advisor. He attended Brigham Young University and graduated with Honors from the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry, where he ranked sixth in his class. He was in inducted into the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Dental Honor Society in recognition of his commitment to the dental profession.
FAMILY & COSMETIC DENTISTRY 702.792.5929 www.drfoutz.com
Dr. Foutz also received Advanced Dental Training from Dr. Gordon Christensen’s Clinical Courses in Rehabilitative Dentistry, Implant Surgery, and Periodontics. He holds a category II Laser Certifcation from the Institute for Laser Dentistry and has maintained a successful dental practice in the Vegas Valley. After completing a General Dental Practice Residency at the Veterans Administration Hospital in
Salt Lake City with emphasis on dental surgery in a hospital setting, he decided to move back to Las Vegas in 1986. He has been blessed to be able to participate in many dental humanitarian trips to Central America over the last few years. The group he participates with, Smiles for Central America, has held dental and medical clinics for thousands of teenage and young adult patients in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua over the last decade. Participation in this endeavor reaffrms to Dr. Foutz the life-changing difference dental care can make in people’s lives.
tEstimonials “Before moving here, I went to the same dentist for 18 years. Since experiencing your staff and your gentle ways, I have never looked back. You are the best bunch of people I have met in Las Vegas working as a team! Thanks for the front-offce entertainment and for the kindness and gentleness in the back. You all make it a wonderful and fun visit! Thanks.” - DeDe “I live in California and worry about my elderly father who retired to Las Vegas—hundreds of miles away from me. During one of my visits to check on him, I took him to an appointment at your offce and was impressed with Dr. Foutz and his staff. It gives me great comfort to know that my father is in good hands with people who truly care for him.” - Vicki “You and your staff are wonderful. It feels like walking into a home full of family. Thanks for the genuine care!” - Lois
2015
MEDICAL PROFILES
[ Special Advertising Section ]
Dr. Joseph P. Contino MD, FACS Joseph P. Contino, M.D., FACS, a breast surgeon with Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada (CCCN), has been treating all types of cancer, with a special focus in breast-related conditions and diseases, for more than 20 years. His ultimate goal with each of his patients is to provide acceptable cosmetic outcomes and superior functional results. He is dedicated to treating his patients on an individual basis with sincere compassion, while exploring new avenues to conquer one of America’s deadliest cancers.
COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTERS OF NEVADA 7445 Peak Drive Las Vegas, NV 89128 702.952.2140 www.cccnevada.com
His dedication as a surgeon extends beyond his work in the operating room. Dr. Contino has embraced all forms of social media into his practice by following health care industry organizations and news outlets. He strongly believes in sharing this timely information with his patients and other followers, who all appreciate his proactive approach to imparting knowledge and surgical expertise. Prior to joining CCCN, Dr. Contino practiced in Salem, Ore., from 1994 to 2010 at Salem Clinic Physicians and Surgeons, PC, where he was appointed Section Chief of Salem Hospital General Surgery. In July 2010, Dr. Contino moved to Las Vegas and began his practice at CCCN, focusing on breast-related diseases.
Beyond his clinical work, Dr. Contino is committed to sharing his knowledge with future medical professionals by serving as Clinical Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine at University of Nevada School of Medicine. He is also a member of the Clark County Medical Society and the American Society of Breast Surgeons. Additionally, Dr. Contino is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and registered with the Mastery of Surgery Breast Program, which is designed to help surgeons document their clinical performance of breast procedures, as well as their care of breast cancer patients and patients at risk for breast cancer. Locally, he contributes to the Breast Cancer Conference at Summerlin Hospital and regularly speaks about breastrelated health issues for Centennial and MountainView hospitals. Dr. Contino is advocating bringing a new piece of state-of-the-art technology to a local hospital, where he will perform surgical procedures that will signifcantly improve outcomes for some breast cancer patients. At this time, only a dozen sites in the United States have access to this unique equipment.
2015
MEDICAL PROFILES
[ Special Advertising Section ]
Dr. Bernard Ong MD Dr. Ong was born and raised in New York City. After attending Brooklyn Technical High School, he went on to Cornell University where he graduated with honors and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society for his outstanding academic achievements. He received his medical training at New York University School of Medicine where he fnished with distinction and was named to the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society.
8551 W. Lake Mead Blvd., Suite 251 Las Vegas, NV 89128 702.796.7979 • www.bernardongmd.com
After completing an internship with the Department of Surgery at the New York University School of Medicine, Dr. Ong began his residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at the renowned NYU-Hospital for Joint Diseases Orthopedic Institute. After his residency, Dr. Ong completed the country’s top-ranked knee and shoulder fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Sports Medicine. This training included the clinical and surgical management of collegiate and professional athletes, while serving as team physician for NCAA Division I men’s and women’s teams. Dr. Ong also participated in the care of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Penguins. For the past ten years, Dr. Ong has been the team physician for the Las Vegas 51s, Triple-A Minor League baseball team affliated with the New York Mets. Dr. Ong has conducted extensive research in knee, shoulder surgery and fracture care. He currently practices Orthopedic Sports Medicine with a focus on knee and shoulder surgery, joint replacement and fracture care. He has also published numerous articles and book chapters in the feld of orthopedic surgery.
Board cErtification American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, 2004; Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Board, 2011
Education Undergraduate Cornell University, Ithaca, NY BA, Biology 1988-1992, Phi Beta Kappa
mEdical New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY MD, Doctor of Medicine 1992-1996, Alpha Omega Alpha
intErnship New York University Medical Center, New York, NY Surgical Internship 1996-1997
rEsidEncy NYU/Hospital for Joint Diseases Orthopaedic Institute, New York, NY Orthopaedic Surgery 1997-2001
fEllowship University of Pittsburgh Center for Sports Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA Sports Medicine/ Knee and Shoulder Surgery 2001-2002
achiEvEmEnts Team Physician New York Mets’ Minor League Team, Las Vegas 51s. Vegas Seven Top Doc 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Las Vegas Life Top Doc 2012, 2013 and 2014
NIGHTLIFE
OC duo Slander and XS are a match made in “heaven trap” By Kat Boehrer
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New Kids on the Block
SLANDER —THE ORANGE COUNTY DUO whose stage name is a mash-up of each of their real names, Scott Land and Derek Andersen—has recently been signed to the Wynn Resorts’ DJ roster as 2015 residents. The industry newbies are known for producing “heaven trap,” a dance-music subgenre that fuses trance with trap. This is perfect ft for their usual appearances at XS’ Movement Sundays, where the musical selection steps away from Vegas’ now ubiquitous big-room EDM sound. Catch them there March 1.
February 26–March 4, 2015
PHOTO BY DONSLENS
Slander at OMFG! San Diego on New Year‘s Eve.
VegasSeven.com
Your city after dark and photos from the week’s hottest parties
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NIGHTLIFE
What brought you together and into the music industry?
andersen: Scott and I met at UC Irvine in Orange County. We got introduced to electronic music probably a year or two before we met, and we decided to DJ for the fraternity that we were in. We DJ’d on the beach in Lake Havasu, and it just went really well. Some of our older alumni were able to get us into the clubs in Orange County. We basically only wanted to DJ [at frst]. We didn’t really have any aspirations to produce, but then it came to a point where we decided that we wanted to try to do it for a career. l and: We’re pretty new on the block since we just got signed by an agency back in May and we’re more publicly out there as DJs who are touring, but it’s not like we’re new. How did you get into the production side of it?
andersen: We really started learning organically. After we did that for about a year, I decided that I needed to get more knowledge about it, so I went to a school called Icon Collective in Burbank. It’s basically EDM production school. It really [impacted] how good of a producer I was and my knowledge of the music industry. What was the turning point for your career?
andersen: We started putting out more high-quality music, and our “We Like to Party” remix got 300,000 plays in the frst week. Before that song, all of our songs got like a total of 30,000 plays. The song just took off: Carnage played it at Coachella [2014] twice, and DJ Snake played it at EDC Mexico. It gave us a little bit of traction. [We went on] our frst tour over the summer, and we hit basically every big city in the United States this year. [We played] TomorrowWorld and Nocturnal Wonderland and all of the big LED [Presents] shows in L.A. It’s been a wild ride.
February 26–March 4, 2015
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VegasSeven.com
You both worked full-time day jobs until pretty recently. When did you start to pursue DJing full-time?
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l and: We were both working fulltime jobs in July [2014]. I did executive recruiting for technology startups in the Bay Area. I think it was August that you quit, Derek? Or September? andersen: It was the end of September. I worked for my dad, doing IT; he has a commercial plumbing business. It was a really good job, and I always wanted to work for my dad, so it was hard leaving. But it was the right time. What are your favorite tracks to play?
andersen: We’ve been playing this new song by RL Grime; we made an edit of his remix of “Acrylics” by TNGHT. And this song by Yellowclaw [& Mightyfools] called “Lick Dat,” a remix by this guy Cesqeaux—it basically has a hard-style part and then goes
into a trap part that gets the crowd jumping. We’ve also been playing “Try It Out” by Skrillex [and Alvin Risk], the Put ’Em Up mix. l and: And pretty much everyone he’s named is a Wynn Resorts resident, I realized: Yellowclaw, Skrillex and RL Grime. Speaking of that, why did you join Wynn
Resorts for your 2015 residency?
andersen: One of the main things is their hospitality is so next level. They treat you so well, and you’re excited every time to go play there. When you go somewhere to play once, it’s usually cool the first time. But if you’re there repetitively, it’s not as much fun each time. So it was really important, if we were going to
be there more times than anywhere else in the year, that it was a place that treated us well and it was a place that we wanted to go back to every single month. l and: Just to be associated with the acts at XS—we get to be right next to Skrillex on the website. For us—especially as an up-and-coming duo—that means more to us than anything.
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NIGHTLIFE
Camille Cannon
A-Trak.
we’ll be there competing on team Gov Buds. (124 11th St., 7 p.m., BunkhouseDowntown.com.) A-Trak has been all up in the news lately. Earlier this month, his track “Out the Speakers” was featured in a Mountain Dew Super Bowl commercial and he recently released a video for “Who Wanna Play,” his collaborative effort with Lex Luger and rapper Que. See what’s next for A-Trak when he hits the decks at Light. (In Mandalay Bay, 10:30 p.m., TheLightVegas.com.) Borgeous.
SUN 1 On Facebook, That 1 Guy describes his sound as “experimental ‘earthshaking future funk’ from the future maybe.” Confused? We’d describe him as a talented one-man band (and Las Vegas local). Catch his sonic surprises at Vinyl. (In Hard Rock Hotel, 9:30 p.m., HardRockHotel.com.) If you’re down for a duo, swing by Hakkasan for sounds by Rev Run and Ruckus. (In MGM Grand, 10:30 p.m., HakkasanLV.com.)
MON 2
February 26–March 4, 2015
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VegasSeven.com
THU 26
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House parties always seem like a good idea before you have them. But after the third beer spills on the carpet and that kid you went to high school with throws up on your couch—admit it, you should have just gone out. You can still get those casual at-home vibes (minus the cleanup) during House Party at Artifce. Besides, your iPod is no match for the beats that the Bombmakers, Shelco Garcia and Teenwolf will deliver. (1025 First St., Suite A, 9 p.m., Facebook.com/ArtifceBar.)
FRI 27 Your essentials tonight: drum and bass and booze.
Collect the trifecta at this month’s edition of Transmission at Hard Hat Lounge. (9 p.m., Facebook. com/HardHatBar.) In more of an EDM mood? Lucky for you, L.A.-based producer and radio host Borgeous is in the building at Drai’s. Truth be told, we’re listening to his latest banger, “They Don’t Know Us,” on loop. We’d like to know all of the lyrics by the time we hit the dance foor. (In the Cromwell, 10:30 p.m., DraisNightlife.com.)
SAT 28 If you’d told us fve years ago that Austin Russell (a.k.a. Chumlee of Pawn Stars) would host the season fnale of GBDC, we wouldn’t
have believed you. But we’re telling you now that not only is Gold & Silver Pawn’s longest-haired star hosting it, he’s got DJ duties too. Don’t believe us? Show up and see for yourself. (In the Palms, 1 p.m., Palms.com.) Keep day drinking and have a very merry un-birthday at Lavo’s Mad Hatter-themed Party Brunch. Ladies enjoy open bar 2-3 p.m. (In the Palazzo, 2 p.m., LavoLV.com.) Attention all fans of Parks and Recreation: The show may be over, but you can still treat yo’ self to All the Questions & Beer You Have: A Parks and Recreation Quiz at Bunkhouse. What’s the age difference between April and Andy? What’s Leslie and Ron’s favorite type of food? We’re not telling, because
Producer Savi is a nightlife veteran. The man born Jim Saviano served as opening manager of Hyde’s Hollywood location. Since then, he’s made a name DJing celebrity soirees in tinsel town. See him at his next stop: Marquee. (In the Cosmopolitan, 10 p.m., CosmopolitanLasVegas.com.)
TUE 3 Have you ever witnessed a brawl between staff at a nightclub? Probably not, because those employees would probably be fred. But at Vegas Nightlife Fights at Brooklyn Bowl, barbacks, hosts and more fght head-tohead to beneft the Wounded Warrior Project. (At the Linq, 5 p.m., Vegas.BrooklynBowl.com.)
WED 4 Dutch mixer DJ Snake is known for producing hits (“Turn Down for What,” “Get Low”) and for his signature shades. He’s so attached to the sunglasses, actually, that he wears them at night. Look for them to make an appearance at Surrender. (In Encore, 10:30 p.m., SurrenderNightclub.com.) And speaking of shade, here’s a friendly heads up: Pool season begins next weekend …
Rev Run and Ruckus.
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OMNIANIGHTCLUB.COM
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702.785.6200
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NIGHTLIFE
PARTIES
RAVEALATION Hard Rock Live [ UPCOMING ]
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See more photos from this gallery at SPYONvegas.com
PHOTOS BY JOSH METZ
February 26–March 4, 2015
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VegasSeven.com
March 28 Real Thugz Tour with Crizzly, Dotcom and K Theory
DINING
“Another popular offering is a sphere of ice cream wrapped in a flat sheet of frozen marshmallow, then placed on a stick and toasted with a blowtorch.” {PAGE 72}
Restaurant reviews, news and how much does Giada love her polenta? Let us count the ways!
Steak-wrapped asparagus with provolone and chicken Parmigiana with spaghetti.
Slow and Steady Of the Strip implementing its big plans gradually, but well By Al Mancini
VegasSeven.com
| February 26–March 4, 2015
PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA
IN DECEMBER, I WROTE ABOUT TOM
Goldsbury, who was in the fnal stages of achieving his dream to bring Off the Strip, the popular Southern Highlands restaurant he built with his late brother, to the Linq promenade (“Off the Strip Is on Its Way,” Dec. 11). Goldsbury succeeded in that quest in late December, when the Linq location opened its doors. I’ve visited a few times since, and while it’s still a work in progress—and with many of the plans for the space still unrealized—the frst phase is a success in my eyes. The new Off the Strip is an ambitious project, taking up 11,000 square feet over two stories, with entrances to both the Linq promenade and the Linq hotel itself. It has two kitchens, which will soon offer three menus: Downstairs features the Italian and American comfort food for which the original restaurant is known, while upstairs will be a chophouse. That chophouse menu hasn’t materialized yet, and on many nights the upstairs remains closed to customers. Also still missing is a full Fresh & Fit menu, meant to cater to health-conscious customers and particularly the afterclub crowd. (The new location is a 24-hour operation, despite the sign that jokingly boasts it’s open 23/7.) The owner and his staff assure me they still intend to roll out both the chophouse and healthful menus, but want to do it gradually as they learn their new customer base better. I’m not terribly concerned about
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Fried calamari, the Pork Chop, and the Lobster ravioli
Al’s
Menu Picks
February 26–March 4, 2015
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Fried calamari ($13), lamb gyro cheesesteak ($13), spaghetti marinara with meatball ($21), chicken Parmigiana ($21).
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the delays, since the current menu is still large and diverse enough to keep me coming back to sample new items, at least for the foreseeable future. Moreover, there are shades of that Fresh & Fit concept in such offerings as grilled mahi, salmon or chicken breast, while a trio of steaks and chops get us closer to that chophouse. The rest of the menu is dominated by bar food, salads, sandwiches and Italian classics. Most of the Italian dishes I’ve tried here have been extremely
traditional, but exquisitely rendered. They include fried calamari with fried chili peppers and spicy tomato sauce, a large portion of chicken Parmesan, and a simple order of spaghetti and meatballs in marinara sauce. (The lobster ravioli are a bit more delicate and complex, but just as good.) For something more interesting, try the thin slices of New York strip steak rolled around asparagus and provolone cheese, and served in a marsala mushroom sauce with sundried tomatoes, or a well-seasoned lamb gyro “cheesesteak.” From the chophouse section, you can’t go wrong with a 10-ounce dry-aged pork chop with Bernaise butter. And for a healthy dish, the mahi with red quinoa, black beans and balsamic sauce
packs a lot of favor. If I’ve had one minor complaint it’s with the prawns wrapped in bacon, which overpowered the delicate favor of the sweet chili-glazed shrimp. In addition to its fantastic food, Off the Strip also succeeds in keeping prices reasonable—at least by Strip standards. All of the appetizers, sandwiches, soups and salads come in at $15 or less. Pastas and entrées generally range from $11 to $24, with only the chophouse items priced higher. (Those max out at $40 for an eight-ounce flet.) Service here has been great, but I admittedly know several members of the staff, as well as the owner. Nonetheless, the original Off the Strip built a reputation on its friendly, neighborhood vibe, and I have no reason to think the Linq location will be any different.
OFF THE STRIP
In the Linq, 702-331-6800. Open for breakfast lunch and dinner daily, 24 hours. Dinner for two, $30–$100.
Get the latest on local restaurant openings and closings, interviews with top chefs, cocktail recipes, menu previews and more in our weekly “Sips and Bites” newsletter. Subscribe at VegasSeven.com/SipsAndBites.
The Mirage loves putting gold in its food, apparently. First there was the Diamond & Gold Lasagna over the holidays at Portofino, and now, for those who want some bling with their breakfast, there are the Golden Jackpot Pancakes at the Pantry (702-696-7050). The 24-hour restaurant is already proud of its daily pancake specials, but this one is a doozy. Clocking in at $27.77, the fluffy stack of seven pancakes is served on the 7th, 17th and 27th of each month through March 27. Seven types of chocolate are available, including milk, caramelized white and 64- or 66-percent dark. Then comes the orange marmalade, a dollop of whipped cream and—oh, yeah— 23-karat gold flakes. Is there a competition out there for Most Vegas Dish? Speaking of lots of gold and breakfast, I recently returned to Giada (in the Cromwell, 702-777-3777) for a morning meal. With the sun streaming in the windows during the day, this seems to be the best way to enjoy the pinkgold dining room, which is bright and peppy, like Giada on one of her shows. There’s a lot of polenta shoring up her breakfast menu, both served creamy or as waffles. Another version is dessert-sweet with strawberries, pineapple and Nutella, but I prefer the other, made savory thanks to pancetta, chives and two sunnyside-up eggs, served with a side of béchamel and maple syrup. Giada’s even introduced a local’s appreciation rate, offering 20 percent off breakfast and lunch during the week. We’re getting that much closer to the Aussies landing in Downtown Summerlin. Keep an eye out in March for the first U.S. outposts of a couple of Down Under favorites. The boutique Gelato Messina will come in handy as temperatures rise here in the Valley, with each variety made daily in-house. Even the bits that go into the gelato—such as dulce de leche doughnuts and mini rosewater meringues—are made by Messina’s team. Fun flavors include salted caramel and white chocolate or apple pie, along with cheeky offerings such as Heisenberg (blueberry yogurt gelato with crystallized violets) or Elvis, The Fat Years (peanut butter gelato with fried brioche and banana jam). On the carnivorous side, the Australians also know how to treat a piece of meat. Ribs & Burgers is inspired by a trip to your neighborhood butcher, with well-sourced specimens from Midwestern grain-fed beef, free-range chicken and salmon making up the burgers, while ribs go slow and low for eight hours. I will use this as an excuse to ask Australians to say things like, “fire up the barbie.” – Grace Bascos Grace Bascos eats, sleeps, raves and repeats. Read more from Grace at VegasSeven.com/ DishingWithGrace, as well as on her diningand-music blog, FoodPlusTechno.com.
PHOTOS BY JON ESTRADA
GOLD PANCAKES, GIADA LOVES POLENTA AND AUSSIES ARE COMING
DINING
Blended by Science New Henderson sweet spot ofers desserts with frozen and fambé’d fair By Al Mancini
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Chef Arthur Haynes plays around with liquid nitrogen at 346 Patisserie.
want to scare anybody around here. I just want to show people that [molecular gastronomy] is just another way to prepare food.” Haynes is a Las Vegas native who studied pastry arts at New York’s French Culinary Institute. He went on to work in Daniel Boulud’s New York fagship Daniel, as well as the Big Apple’s incarnation of Thomas Keller’s Bouchon. While they were expecting the birth of their daughter, however, he and his partner Amber Pappageorge (also a Las Vegas native and hospitality industry veteran) decided to move back home. And while the chef briefy took a posi-
tion at Bellagio, their ultimate goal was always to create a space of their own. “It’s a lot more fun,” Haynes says of his new spot. “You really see the other side of it. It becomes much more real. [At other restaurants] you’re in the back. You hardly ever see anybody. There’s a factory aspect to it. Now it’s become personal, and it’s a lot more rewarding.” What are his long-term goals for the patisserie? “I’d be happy,” he says, “if we have enough of a following to support my passion for science.” Given the quality of what he’s already putting out, that shouldn’t be a problem.
PHOTO BY ANTHONY MAIR
February 26–March 4, 2015
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VegasSeven.com
AT FIRST GLANCE, HENDERSON’S NEW
346 Patisserie (90 Stephanie St., 702-607-2355) looks like a quaint neighborhood ice cream store and bakery. But a quick perusal of the ice cream and gelato favors reveals that there’s something more going on here. While the selection rotates regularly, on one recent visit they included chocolate anise, Szechuan, olive oil and Sriracha alongside such classics as dark chocolate, strawberry and French vanilla. (The Szechuan was surprisingly mild, but be careful with the Sriracha, which packs a serious kick.) Once you’ve sampled a few favors and chosen your favorite—that's when things get really interesting. Chef Arthur Haynes prepares most of the dessert toppings to order in front of his guests using liquid nitrogen. (The shop's name is a reference to the element’s freezing point of minus-346 degrees Fahrenheit.) The liquid vaporizes quickly when it comes in contact with air, providing a cool fog that emanates from the mixing bowl. More importantly, at about minus-320 degrees, it fash-freezes everything from berries to chocolate mousse. Haynes will then crack the mousse into rock-hard nuggets that quickly melt in your mouth, or pulverize the berries into a frozen powder that slowly reverts to juice atop the ice cream. Another popular offering is a sphere of ice cream wrapped in a fat sheet of frozen marshmallow, then placed on a stick and toasted with a blowtorch. Haynes is hoping these small touches of smoke and fre, and the treats they help create, will pave the way for him to offer more innovative techniques. He's a devotee of molecular gastronomy—the modern school of cooking that uses chemistry to transform food into foams, powders, spheres and other unusual forms—and the plan is to add those concepts to his offerings. But he’s not looking to push the envelope too far too soon. “I kind of want to move a little slowly with it,” he says. “I don’t
PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA
➜ The boys club is offcially over. Herbs & Rye has had some staff turnover since the cocktail bar and steakhouse opened in 2009. But of all the bartenders to step behind the stick, not a one has been a female. (You can see where this is going, can’t you?) Meet Emily Yett. Bubbly, sassy, energetic and not afraid of hard work. Coworker and bar manager Joe Pereira admits that he was straight with Yett during the hiring process: fourteen-hour days, opening then closing—could she handle it? You bet she can.
Raised in Rancho Cucamonga, California, Yett started bartending the second she turned 21. At the Tartan—a Scottish pub with, ironically, the same wallpaper as Herbs & Rye—the employee closest to Yett’s age was in her 50s. At the bar, “it was a lot of brandy Alexanders, mai tais, Grasshoppers and Pink Ladies,” she says. “They would call a margarita with no salt a ‘topless Maggie’ and call all their bourbon drinks by the mixer: ‘a Coke,’ ‘a Seven’ or ‘a water.’ A regular Coke was a Shirley.” When
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The First Ladies
February 26–March 4, 2015
Herbs & Rye’s Kimberly Wachsman (left) and Emily Yett.
Yett landed a barback gig at Bally’s in Las Vegas she was the only one in her age group to know those calls, and it served her well. Having taught herself fair bartending from YouTube videos by Las Vegas’ own Ken Hall and Christian Delpech, Yett started fipping bottles at Carlos & Charlie’s and The D, where she was actually noticed for her mixology chops and whisked off to open Bound bar in the Cromwell. An Herbs & Rye regular, Yett caught owner Nectaly Mendoza’s eye during a bartending competition that required both speed and precision. “I will drop my union job and take out trash cans for you to work here,” Yett told Mendoza, “because the team is so solid, to be a part of it would be amazing.” She started her frst shift at Herbs & Rye in January on her 30th birthday. “Being in the fair world, I’m kind of used to being the only female,” Yett says. “It puts me in a position to show everyone I like to have fun, but there’s a reason they picked me and I’m back there. I’m trying to prove to this city that I can be right there with the rest of them.” But don’t expect her to put away the fair now that she’s back in the land of brandy Alexanders. “I eventually want to merge the two. And when I put my mind to something, I do it.” The girl power doesn’t stop there. General manager Kimberly Wachsman was born in Las Vegas, but grew up in Guam and returned to Nevada after graduating high school. Two days later she had a hostess job at Herbs & Rye, where her sister is a food server. Just a year and a half later, Wachsman was promoted to general manager. “[Yett and Wachsman] are awesome. I have not been happier,” says Mendoza, who has a passion for mentorship. Wachsman says Mendoza has encouraged her to learn the business from top to bottom: serving, bartending, food running. It’s always been Wachsman’s goal to someday own her own restaurant. Now, seeing it from the inside, she is even more committed. “I still have a lot to learn,” she says. “But Nectaly has kept me positive. Some days I want to break down because of the stress. But he’s right by my side saying, ‘I don’t want you to give up.’” Still, the hardest thing for Wachsman is approaching tables. Where she isn’t shy is with her staff, to whom she has no trouble delegating. “I like to be a leader,” Wachsman says. “They tease me, they give me a hard time, but I know it’s for the right reason, to strengthen my weaknesses. They want to see if I can handle it. But they don’t want to see me fail. We’re all like family, and you know how family is.”
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DRINKING
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A&E
“Poking fun at aging eyesight, Vita Corimbi performs sublime silent shtick trying to read a menu, her arms extending farther and farther until her posture resembles a gorilla trying to make it out.” SHOWSTOPPER {PAGE 83}
Movies, music, art and two time-tested fests
PHOTOS BY JASON OGULNIK
Let the adventure begin: drinks at Carson Kitchen with Cuddles the Showgirl.
Eat, Play, Solve
Alibi Las Vegas is equal parts improv theater, Downtown walking tour, food stop, bar visit and interactive mystery By Steve Bornfeld
In a word … well, there’s no single word for it. Rather, it’s a cocktail of walking theater, Downtown sightseeing, improvisational comedy, a bite to eat, a bit to drink and a clue-driven, group-teamwork-solving interactive crime mystery. Eight times every Saturday. Plus the mime who screams— one of six actor/guides (including an ex-Playboy Playmate—seriously) to whom we are handed off every 20 minutes or so at different locales over 2 � hours. Don’t confuse it with Las Vegas: The Game, a more elaborate and expensive Strip-centered series of planned scenarios to “prank” friends. Alibi’s inspiration is New York’s Accomplice, its multiheaded premise playing out through the streets of Greenwich Village. “There’s nothing else like it,” says Ivan Phillips, Alibi’s producer, who launched Alibi in November. “I saw [Accomplice] in New York and thought it was a really cool experience and would be cool in Vegas. But it’s a completely original plot with typical Vegas characters.” Everything else? Atypical. “When Cuddles approaches you, she doesn’t say, ‘Tickets please, here’s the line, the show starts in fve minutes,’” Phillips says. “It’s immersive from the moment you get the text to the moment it fnishes. It makes it more real.”
Striding toward us, hips swiveling like a clock pendulum, is Cuddles (Sarah Jessica Rhodes). She must be. Even in Vegas, few pedestrians sashay around in a pink cape, beaded bra, headdress and blue-spangled vest, hands sheathed in elegant gloves. Bubbly enough to be bottled as Champagne, Cuddles learns our names and leads us away, half-prancing, half-kick-stepping down Seventh Street and up Carson Avenue. On the 1-to-10 meter, Cuddles’ energy is set at 11, chattering breathlessly, pointing out what she claims is the frst trash can in Las Vegas history, and giggling, “I was voted most likely to be important!” She asks us to name musical genres to sing to. We dare her to blend ’70s pop and rap. She segues from “Dancing Queen” to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme. People laugh. Strangers bond. Cuddles drapes her feather boa over one man. His wife jokes that she always suspected he was transgender. First stop: Carson Kitchen on Sixth Street, bellying up to an outdoor table for soft drinks and suds, washing down doughnut holes. Our photo is snapped, beer bottles and ginger-ale cans aloft in a toast. Cuddles passes out onesheet fake newspapers. Headlines include: “Las Vegas to build allnude gambling casino” (if only) with a picture of naked people, private bits shielded by gaming tables; and “Las Vegas studies show that alcohol is the #1 cause of marriage” (likely true in this city). Another reads, “Record-breaking heist at casino—mastermind strikes again.” That launches us on our mystery, as Cuddles enthuses that the “mastermind” promised to get her a Strip gig if she can enlist our aid in a little caper. Cuddles hands us a videocassette containing a clue suggesting where to go next—then leaves, clock-pendulum hips swaying away. Bye-bye, honey-bunny. ***** “It’s intricate—I came up with the
VegasSeven.com
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“Hi, it’s Cuddles the Showgirl. Can U help me? Meet me @ the Big Heart outside Container Park (707 Fremont St) @ 11 a.m. Saturday. Don’t be late sweetie.” Well, OK, honey-bunny. So begins—18 hours before it actually begins— a contender for Las Vegas’ strangest entertainment experience. We gather—six women, fve men comprised of eight tourists, a couple of locals and this tag-along reporter—on an unseasonably mild Saturday at the “Big Heart” statue in the park in Fremont East. We are the clueless crew for a bizarre brew called Alibi Las Vegas.
February 26–March 4, 2015
INCOMING TEXT FROM … WHO?
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A&E
plot, Ivan came up with the puzzles,” says improv comedian/actor Matt Donnelly (of the Ogden’s Bucket Show and Matt & Mattingly’s Ice Cream Social podcast with Paul Mattingly), who directed Alibi Las Vegas. “We wanted this to be a very Downtown type of show, for people to know it’s very different from what’s typically offered in Vegas. Not going into a casino was important to us. You take a lot of breaks, a lot of stuff happens indoors. We can shorten the walking in the summer months.” Alibi, he says, parallels a change in visitors’ entertainment habits, with more young people choosing the informality of clubs over the formality of slickly produced shows. “People want to be the stars of their own show, their own vacation, they want to go home with a lot of stories,” Donnelly says. “I really like the shift of the audience watching the show to the audience being integral to the plot of the show.”
Scenes from the Alibi experience.
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Discovering a clue behind the restaurant, we untangle its cryptic lingo, turn onto Las Vegas Boulevard and toward the Fremont Street Experience. Schmoozing for a half-hour now, we’ve taken up Cuddles’ slack, making our own merriment. Stopping near a lighted pink famingo across from the International Eatery, we fnd another clue pointing us toward a strange mime (Brent Mukai). True, they’re all strange, but this practitioner of silence is yelling, challenging us to join his shtick. He’s talking up the proverbial blue streak, everyone’s talking back—and crowds form on both sides of the Experience. Per Donnelly’s plan, we are the show. When the mime high-fves me, I do it, rather than fake-do it. Oops. We’re back to miming. He yells—but kinda nicely. Meanwhile, a numeric code to snap open a case containing another clue isn’t coming easily. We need to refer to a previous clue. Finally, with subtle prompts from the mime who knows there’s a ticking clock for this segment, we break it. We bid adieu to the mime. With words. En route to the next stop, I notice we’re shy one married couple—they’ve ducked into a gift shop. We backtrack to fetch them. We’re a unit now, playing and working together. Eleven for all, and all for 11. ***** “We get groups stopping to do their own mini-bar crawl on Fremont Street— they’ll do shots at the Four Queens, then walk over to Golden Nugget—but there’s a buffer built in because the groups are 45 minutes apart,” producer Phillips says. “Some people are about the scavenger hunt. They don’t give a damn about interacting with actors or the food or drink, they just want to solve the puzzle. Others don’t care about the clues, they just want to walk around and joke with the actors. You get groups where
they’re loud and asking questions, busting the balls of the actors. Then you have groups with six shy Japanese tourists. That’s a completely different show.”
one of our posse, and we’re sent off with a photo album. Pictures mark locations leading to a jewelry/pawn store (not the famous TV one), just off Fremont Street. “Goods” are ex***** changed. Handcuffs—much to one person’s relief—are uncuffed. Scanning a map from that case we Emerging from behind the counter cracked open—with odd illustrations as is a furtive fellow (Tommy Todd) who directions—we arrive at Pizza Rock on leads a paranoid trek through NeoThird Street. There, a shady-looking nopolis to lose “our tail,” even warning gent in a black hat us to suspect one and black shirt, another. Given striking a slightly vintage Vegas visALIBI LAS VEGAS sinister pose is, itor guides, we’re Saturdays; shows begin at 11 a.m. in ’natch, the mastold to locate an groups of up to 10 people per group; termind (DenElvis impersonnew groups leave every 45 minutes, nis DeVilbiss). ator ad, wherein the last group departing at 4:15 p.m.; Ushered inside, lies the clue to Container Park, 707 Fremont St.; $65 we’re served pizza our next destinafor adults, $29 for children 12 and and drinks as tion—the Gold under (includes food and drink); he explains the Spike Hotel—and 702-786-0577; AlibiTheShow.com. complex caper, a very odd Elvis. including hushed mentions of an ***** “inside man.” Stopping only when waitresses hov“We love handcuffng the briefcase to er—when he pretends he’s making a someone; we want people to hold stuff time-share presentation—he sprinkles and do stuff, we don’t want it to be a instructions with casual banter over spectator show,” says Donnelly, who slices (with meatballs on the side). was challenged by directing a show Among the chitchat: He briefy dated that won’t sit still. Cuddles. I’m jealous. “It was like directing six one-person When we’re down to the pizza shows that lead to one another. You have crusts, he handcuffs a mysterious to fnd performers comfortable generbriefcase containing certain “goods” ating a lot of material over 20-minute (remember the “heist” headline?) to spans. Rather than try to prepare them
for every possible scenario, you give them a sense of the character. I would walk the streets with them, and just point out opportunities [for interaction].” ***** We meet Elvis (James White)—an unconventional approximation of The King, to say the least. After treating us to bar drinks, he herds us toward the “VIP Lounge”—the size of a big walk-in closet— flled with Elvis album covers and Elvis for Dummies. Grabbing a microphone, he asks for requests. We reel off classic titles. He sings: “I like big butts and I cannot lie.” The gag: Elvis knows no Elvis songs. Here, the conspiracy climaxes. Enter the mastermind’s “inside man,” who is … an inside woman (Corinna Jones— Playboy Playmate of the Year for 1992). A “cop” barges in. Crime-scene tape is hung. On a monitor, a fake newscast crime story fashes a photo of a suspicious bunch, beer bottles and gingerale cans held aloft. Whatever else Alibi offers, one thing it doesn’t is a legal aid lawyer. Fortunately, everything ends before the arraignment. ***** Alibi Las Vegas has been a unique twoplus hours of walking, kibitzing, eating, drinking, laughing and brain-teasing. Customer feedback? One suggestion: Can I get Cuddles’ number?
PHOTOS BY JASON OGULNIK
February 26–March 4, 2015
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*****
CONCERT
Surfer Blood Rides the Reverb Wave The Bunkhouse Saloon, Feb. 21
A&E
The Bunkhouse was soaked in reverbladen surf pop thanks to a brief, yet satisfying set by Florida’s Surfer Blood. The band’s 13-song set flew by almost as fast as the buzz-saw guitars they played in “Miranda” and new song “I Can’t
ALBUMS WE'RE BUYING 1 Imagine Dragons, Smoke + Mirrors
Explain.” The quartet seemed right at home in their first performance at the venue when singer/guitarist John Paul Pitts stepped off stage to join fans in a
2 Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour
sing-along during “Take It Easy.” Not bad for a band with a singer who looks like a high school nerd-turned-grunge hero. While the band’s stage presence and
3 Slipknot, .5: The Gray Chapter
setlist were solid, Surfer Blood fell victim to bad aesthetics. Pitts’ vocals were downright inaudible at times, especially during the driving drums of “Anchorage.” While this may have been
4 Marilyn Manson, The Pale Emperor (Explicit)
a voluntarily choice for Pitt to mimic the vocals on the band’s recordings, it made for a mediocre performance—especially given the Bunkhouse’s otherwise stellar
5 J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive
sound. ★★✩✩✩ – Ian Caramanzana
7 Hozier, Hozier
8 Ed Sheeran, X
9 Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint
10 Beck, Morning Phase
According to sales at Zia Record Exchange at 4503 W. Sahara Ave., Feb. 16-22.
Through March 2 at Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd., ArtAndWriting.org.
February 26–March 4, 2015
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NO INSTRUMENTS REQUIRED If a capella music is your thing and you can’t wait for Pitch Perfect 2, look no further than recent Grammy winners Pentatonix. Who needs instruments when these five singers are around? Pentatonix plays the Chelsea on Feb. 28 ($20-$50).
OZOGOOD Ozomatli switches genres as easily as some performers change costumes. Lots of bands play rock and hip-hop, but can they bring the funk? Can they play salsa and jazz, reggae and rap? Ozomatli brings it all to Brooklyn Bowl on March 1 ($27.50-$350.25).
ON SALE NOW Sure, Iggy Azalea might’ve been snubbed at this year’s Grammys—no trophies despite four big nominations—but this “Fancy” singer is still a fan favorite. She brings her Great Escape tour to MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 25 ($39.50-$69.50).
SURFER BLOOD BY ALEX ANDER ZAYAS
Lining the walls, filling cases and shelves, packing every inch of the Springs Preserve Gallery is the art and writing of seventh through 12th graders for this year’s Southern Nevada chapter of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Geared toward spotting emerging talent, the program has been recognizing young visual artists and creative writers throughout the U.S. since 1923. Each of the 1,500 pieces clamors for attention. Visual art comprises the lion's share with 1,200 entries. Photographers capture clever optical illusions, such as a surreal tangle of sneakers and legs (Coby
Sugars, grade 7) and a bulging eyeball glaring out from within a glass goblet (Alex Mediate, grade 12). A black and white film by ninth grader David Tovar—depicting the travails of a broken pencil during an exam—resonates with the sentiment of the classic 1949 film The Bicycle Thief. A sculpted stubby gray creature (Sydney Burns, grade 9) peers forward morosely, trapped in place by a series of red strands. Listening stations invite you to hear snippets from winning writing entries. We go on first-time Ferris wheel rides (Brooke Whitney, grade 12) and a stormy hike with a Hungarian grandfather (Alex Robertson, grade 7). Considering this show as evidence, the Valley should prepare for a wave of creatives. – Jenessa Kenway
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VegasSeven.com
Explosion of Young Art & Writing Talent in the Vegas Valley
6 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear
The
HIT LIST TARGETING THIS WEEK'S MOST-WANTED EVENTS
By Camille Cannon
BETWEEN THE LINES The Writer’s Block bookshop is becoming home to all sorts of enticing events, the latest of which is Neon Lit on Feb. 27. Formerly held at the now-closed Trifecta Gallery, the monthly literary showcase features UNLV MFA and Ph.D. creative writing students and alumni reading original works. Don’t forget to peruse the aisles afterward. NeonLit.org.
STAGE KISS BY RYAN REASON/SQUARE SHOOTING
‘Trust’ worthy: Jerry Lewis and Nicolas Cage to film a Vegas movie together In a move sure to unite Internet-addled millennials with their age-addled grandparents, Jerry Lewis has joined the cast of The Trust. With Nic Cage. What kind of Tarantino-fever-dream-casted monstrosity is The Trust, you ask? Fair question. First, we need to assure you this is a real movie and not, as you might reasonably expect, a Mad Lib put together by Reddit. Cage and Elijah Wood play cops working the evidence room of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. One finds a vault stuffed with drug money sealed in the back of a convenience store, so they Wonder Twinpowers-activate to pull off a heist. Again: Real movie, not Mad Lib. It will be filmed locally, which probably helped convince Lewis to do the flick in the first place. Lewis will play Cage’s father (and possible retired Holocaust clown), which makes so much sense we can’t believe no one’s suggested it in a movie before now. The only way it could make more sense is if Lewis played Jim Carrey’s bitter onscreen father who spends two hours berating his son for stealing his entire act and making a fortune off it while poor dad has to spend 40 years of his career hearing about how only the French find him funny. Directing are Ben and Alex Brewer, who previously di-
FRESH INK College of Southern Nevada students collaborated with playwrights around the world to produce the efforts you’ll see Feb. 26-28 at the New Play Festival. Local directors Aaron Tuttle and Douglas Hill help bring the seven one-acts to life at the Cheyenne campus’ performing arts center. CSN.edu.
rected absolutely fucking nothing. Right now, IMDB.com lists Cage as Jim Stone, Wood as David Waters and third-billed Abigail Rich as “Sexy bartender.” (Maybe that’s supposed to be Sex E. Bartender, like a Bond girl?) There is nothing about this little matryoshka of delight that doesn’t sound completely amazing. At the very least, we’re going to camp out ahead of the premiere like it’s a new Star Wars flick and we just bought a Chewbacca costume. Are the Brewers willing to accept a Kickstarter for someone to keep cameras trained on Cage and Lewis through the entire filming? If not, could someone at least explain to us what a Best Boy does, so we can pass ourselves off as one? – Jason Scavone
FOR WOMEN, BY WOMEN Speaking of UNLV, the Jean Nidetch Women’s Center invites you to the Vagina Monologues on Feb. 28 in the Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall. Eve Ensler’s play about ladies bits and liberties is produced as part of the global V-Day Initiative to end violence against women. UNLV.edu. WHAT HAPPENS ONSTAGE No one can kiss without consequences, not even professional actors. At least, that’s the guiding principle of Sarah Ruhl’s Stage Kiss. Taliesin McEnaney will direct Cockroach Theatre’s production of the comedy Feb. 27-March 15 at Art Square Theatre. And yes, there will be smooching. CockroachTheatre.com.
VegasSeven.com
Russian protest punks Pussy Riot are better known for their politics than their music. However, with their frst English-language
frenzy. It’s a dark, neo-industrial, slightly gothic song that grows more chilling as it unfolds. The same goes for the video, in which Nadya and Masha are buried alive. (For real. In one take.) Musicians from Russian bands Jack Wood and Scofferlane contribute vocals, while Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs plays piano and bass. Punk icon Richard Hell completes the song with a harrowing reading of Garner’s last words as he begged the police to “leave me alone." – Lissa Townsend Rodgers
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PUSSY RIOT’S ‘I CAN’T BREATHE’
song and video, that may be about to change. In a release, Nadya and Masha of Pussy Riot say that “I Can’t Breathe” is “dedicated to those who can no longer breathe. To Eric Garner and to all who suffer from state terror … to political prisoners and those on the streets fghting for change.” The two participated in protests and wrote the song because “we’ve known, on our own skin, what police brutality feels like.” “I Can’t Breathe” is a departure from their usual quick n’ crude
February 26–March 4, 2015
[ VIDEOGRAPHY ]
79
MUSIC Punk Rock Bowling: Celebrating 17 years of Mohawks.
[ OLD LADY IN A MOSH PIT ]
THE FESTIVAL ORIGINALS Amid festival creep, Viva Las Vegas rockabilly weekender and Punk Rock Bowling are nearly 20-years strong
MASS-APPEAL MEGA MUSIC FESTIVALS
have become a feature of the Las Vegas landscape, from EDC and Life Is Beautiful to the newbie, Rock in Rio. However, two festivals have been drawing fans from around the world since the 20th century. The Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend (April 2-5) is in its 18th year, while Punk Rock Bowling is celebrating its 17th birthday (May 22-25). Both festivals are built on an old model: Find a subculture and corral its afcionados for a weekend of music, mingling and wallowing in the thing(s) they love best. “Punk Rock Bowling originally started at a bowling alley in Santa Monica and was only open to punk bands, labels, fanzines and college radio,” recalls Mark Stern, founder of Punk Rock Bowling. As the event grew, “We decided to move the party to Vegas and turn it into an annual weekend.” When Tom Ingram, founder of Viva Las Vegas, was planning his rockabilly shindig, he also felt the lure of our neon city. “I looked at a lot of cities and decided Vegas was by far the best location,” he says, “The freedom of restrictions in Vegas makes the difference, such as 24-hour bars.” Both Ingram and Stern see their events as a way to gather the tribes, draw new fans and pay tribute to legends. “Chuck Berry was my most memorable, because he was the frst of the big acts that I booked,” Ingram says. “I would like to book Fats Domino, but I don’t think he is playing any more.” “We try to put a lot of younger up-and-coming bands on the lineups as well as older bands that have reformed for special appearances,” Stern says. Bringing the younger and older crowds together is part of what
makes Punk Rock Bowling a special event. “A few years ago we had Devo play at PRB, and a lot of people were trying to tell me that Devo wasn’t a punk band,” he says. “But they hit the stage and I looked out at all these different factions of punk rock fans— kids with Mohawks, older punks with their kids, girls with blue hair, the whole gamut—and everyone was wearing Devo hats and dancing up and down and smiling ear to ear!” Viva Las Vegas regularly sells out, but Ingram still remains a little amazed at the festival’s appeal, admitting that he “never expected” it to be such a huge success. “I try not to expect anything, then that way I am never disappointed. I just put on an event I hope people will enjoy and let the rest happen on its own,” he says. “The personal satisfaction is enormous, as I am a big fan of the music and have been involved in the rockabilly scene for so long.” Stern also appreciates how large Punk Rock Bowling has gotten, even as he tries to keep an eye on the little things. “It’s gotten pretty big and sells out every year, but we intentionally keep the capacity low at the festival, so it’s still an intimate show. We strive to have a great atmosphere, good sight lines, great sound and cheap drinks and food.” He adds, “We try to take all the things that we don’t like about big festivals and do the opposite.” As Vegas is increasingly a location for broad-based, major-budget, we’rehere-for-the-selfes festivals, it’s nice to know that we’ve still got our smallerscale, old-school cultural congregations. And they’re not going anywhere. “We have been asked to do PRB in other cities,” Stern says. “But what better place is there for 20,000 punk rockers to gather than the City of Sin?”
PHOTO BY TYSON HEDER
By Lissa Townsend Rodgers
STAGE
MIDLIFE SENTENCE Menopause The Musical still a hot fash of fun
PHOTO BY GABE GINSBERG
MADE OF TOUGH STUFF, THIS SHOW—
it’s endured “The Change” twice. Belting, hoofng and chortling about its titular condition, Menopause The Musical arrived in 2006 at the Las Vegas Hilton (now the Westgate), segued to the Luxor, and now relocates to Harrah’s, sprucing up the lighting, costumes and set along the way. Yet its humor remains hilariously intact. Among female-centric Vegas shows, Menopause always seemed to me the least exclusionary to those of us on the other side of the chromosomal divide. Not that short-timers Divorce Party the Musical and The D* Word were hostile, per se—but their comic claws drew satirical blood from the un-fairer sex. Menopause does contain those moments: Turning the Platters’ “Only You (Can Make My Dreams Come True)” into an ode to a vibrator certainly carries allusions to male inadequacies. Still, Menopause is so goodnaturedly focused on the physical and emotional tolls of middle-aged womanhood that it almost begs for a testosterone counterpart, say, Erectile Dysfunction The Musical (almost). While the creative conceit—writing themed lyrics to a bevy of baby boomer-era classics—isn’t original, its execution is consistently funny. You know the formula: “Chain of Fools” becomes “Change of Life”; “Stayin’ Alive” morphs into “Stayin Awake”; “My Guy” transforms into “My Thighs”; “Puff the Magic Dragon” emerges as “Puff, My God, I’m Draggin’,” etc. And it goes over like gangbusters owing to four—excuse the expression—balls-out performances. In roles representing types rather than characters, the still-hippie-fed earth mother (Vita Corimbi), aging soap star (Paige O’Hara), pant-suited
professional woman (Lisa Mack) and sweetly goofy Iowa housewife (Laura Lee O’Connell) bond over a bra sale at Bloomingdale’s, unleashing the torrent of parody numbers, with some clever routines flling the space between. All have bravura moments. Blessed with an elastic face, nasally delivery and endless bag of facial/ bodily expressions, O’Connell is a laugh machine. Beyond her orgasmic discoveries in “Only You,” she’s a sight trying to wriggle into lingerie two sizes too small for her broad frame in a pantomime bit. Jiggling with the ladies to “Looking for Love”—now a food lament—she croons, “Packing on pounds where I didn’t have spaces.” With enough lung power to blow Harrah’s into the Linq, Mack dominates the stage when she does a spot-on (and literally hair-raising) Tina Turner imitation in “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and bemoans memory loss in “The Great Pretender” (lyric: Oh yes, I’m the great pretender, pretending there’s no brain collapse). Poking fun at aging eyesight, Corimbi performs sublime silent shtick trying to read a menu, her arms extending farther and farther until her posture resembles a gorilla trying to make it out. And O’Hara’s highlights include seducing an audience member (male) during Irving Berlin’s “Heat Wave”-turned-“Hot Flash,” purring, My personal summer is really a bummer, I’m having a hot fash. When the four sing together—which is frequently—the comedy wattage really amps up. Menopause might be about midlife hot fashes, but Menopause The Musical still romps like a teenager in heat. Got an entertainment tip? Email Steve.Bornfeld@VegasSeven.com.
MOVIES
A&E
‘DESIGNATED’ FUN
High school cruelty, explained: Mae Whitman and Bella Thorne.
This high school makeover movie makes good on cliques and clichés By Michael Phillips Tribune Media Services
THE DUFF STANDS FOR “DESIGNATED UGLY FAT
Friend.” From that cruel acronym, we now have a movie designed to appeal to fans of the source material. Kody Keplinger wrote the book when she was 17 and a merry slave to high school clique clichés. But her sense of humor appealed to older readers as well— basically to anyone who hadn’t left behind the old teenage insecurities about looks, status, social stratifcation and feeling like a loser. We’ve all been there. What happens in The DUFF could be treated as a tragedy (and has been, recently, in Men, Women and Children, among others). Here, it’s handled as a comedy of humiliation, pockmarked with smiley-face emoticons where you wouldn’t mind some real emotion. The plot comes straight out of the old “Varsity Drag” musical Good News, the one about the approachable, unglamorous good girl who tutors the preening high school football hero and ends up falling in love. Mae Whitman, of Parenthood, plays Bianca, a high school senior and horror movie geek full of life, and smarts, and zippy comebacks. She’s “pretty enough for all normal purposes,” as Mrs. Webb says in Our Town, but because her best friends, played by Bianca Santos and Skyler Samuels, are willowy, runway-
ready creatures, our heroine is treated by the story as a dateless hag. She learns she’s widely known as a DUFF from her longtime neighbor and frenemy Wesley, the callow jock (sensitive, deep down) played by Robbie Amell and his pecs. This early reveal is treated seriously, and Whitman’s enough of an actress to mine the scene for all the pain and honest feeling it’s worth. Then the flm gets back to its mundane business of trashing her in larger and potentially more harmful ways, mainly for laughs. A covert video of Bianca, learning to babe it up under Wesley’s tutelage and expressing her lust for a sensitive, guitar-toting student, goes viral. Cyberbullying and bullying in general, emanating primarily from the meanest of the mean girls (Bella Thorne, shrill in a one-note role), is taken wholly for granted in The DUFF. It all works out for Bianca, of course, and for some the movie itself, directed by Ari Sandel from Josh A. Cagan’s script, will work out suffciently well, too. Whitman’s a wily cross between Janeane Garofalo and Ellen Page and in her scenes with her motivationalspeaker single mother (Allison Janney), you sense a better movie lurking in the shadows. The question with practically every
movie besieged by an army of high school cliques and “types” is this: Does the movie recycle and exploit the clichés in the name of rising above them? This movie does, I think. Now and then you fnd a flm such as 10 Things I Hate About You (thank you, William Shakespeare) or Easy A (thumbs up, Nathaniel Hawthorne) that goes beyond and messes, proftably, with
February 26–March 4, 2015
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VegasSeven.com
SHORT REVIEWS
84
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (R) ★★✩✩✩
John Cusack has been reduced to Z-grade action comedies. And he still turned down this half-baked sequel starring Craig Robinson and Rob Corddry. In the first movie, the guys travel back to a pivotal 1986 ski weekend from their past in what appears to be an electrical accident. But their trip was no accident, Time Machine 2 tells us. Whatever regrets Cusack may have for not returning—he says he wasn’t even asked— the proof is 93 minutes of a movie whose closing credits have the most laughs.
The Last Five Years (PG-13) ★★★✩✩ Director Richard LaGravenese’s film version of the Jason Robert Brown stage show deserves attention. Brown’s chronicle of an ill-fated romance begins with struggling musical-theater performer Cathy (Anna Kendrick), still hurting from the end of her five years with novelist Jamie (Jeremy Jordan). Jamie’s scenes and songs proceed in chronological order, from the start of the affair; Cathy gives us the end and takes us back through the middle, and on back to the start. Brown’s musical has more than structural cleverness in its corner.
Mcfarland, USA (PG) ★★★✩✩
Director Niki Caro has delivered a Kevin Costner sports movie that works. Costner plays Jim White, who in 1987 moves to McFarland in central California. There, in a largely Latino community, the aptly named Whites are faced with finding their friends and their place in this land of low-riders and sun. Caro shot much of it on location to strong advantage, for clues to character and circumstance in a part of the nation too rarely explored on screen. Also, if you’re keeping score on Costner sports flicks: McFarland is more rewarding than Draft Day.
the usual images, body or otherwise. The DUFF will no doubt strike a chord with many, but you know what would be revolutionary? Making a really good movie about a three-dimensional teenage female character that doesn’t start and fnish with both eyes on the same old punishing character types. The DUFF (PG-13) ★★✩✩✩
By Tribune Media Services
Fifty Shades of Grey (R) ★★✩✩✩
Director Sam Taylor-Johnson remains true to novelist E.L. James’ narrative about Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan), up to and including the abrupt cliffhanger ending that doesn’t work in a stand-alone movie. I expected either a camp hoot or a slavishly faithful film. Instead, Fifty Shades turns out to be roughly as pretty good as the first Twilight—appropriate, since James wrote Fifty Shades as sexed-up, loinzapoppin’ fan fiction paying tribute to the Twilight best-sellers.
Kingsman: The Secret Service (R) ★★✩✩✩
Jupiter Ascending (PG-13) ★★✩✩✩
Seventh Son (PG-13) ★✩✩✩✩
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (PG) ★✩✩✩✩
Silly, sadistic and finally a little galling, Kingsman answers the question: What would Colin Firth have been like if he’d played James Bond? Firth portrays one of the crack gentlemen-spies working for a secret agency out to save the world from a crackpot billionaire (Samuel L. Jackson). As Firth’s beautifully tailored colleagues, Michael Caine and Mark Strong offer unblinking gazes par excellence. In the leading role, Taron Egerton is engaging as the working-class miscreant “Eggsy.”
Legend has it that the seventh son of a seventh son is born with special powers, which, in Joseph Delaney’s Wardstone Chronicles fantasy-lit series, include the ability to see supernatural beings and kill witches. But given the long gestation period for Universal’s film adaptation, Seventh Son, which opened nearly a year later than planned, one shouldn’t be surprised to discover some pretty significant birth defects, among them a tired plot, some very unspecial effects and a pair of grotesquely uneven performances from Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.
Project Almanac (PG-13) ★★★✩✩
A couple of ingenious wrinkles distinguish Project Almanac from other time-travel fantasies. It’s not the best film of the genre, but it’s an entertaining ride. Science-whiz high school senior David (Jonny Weston) and his younger sister (Virginia Gardner) stumble across a camcorder with video of David’s seventh birthday party. David, as he looks now, is glimpsed in a mirror in the background of a party that took place 10 years earlier. That sends him poking around Dad’s old workshop, where he and his pals uncover plans for a time-travel device.
Channing Tatum’s character is a “splice,” an intergalactic bounty hunter with a distaste for shirts. Mila Kunis’ character, Jupiter Jones, is the rightful heir to planet Earth because she is a genetic ringer for the late matriarch of a high-toned family of bores who rule most of the known universe. The script struggles to tell a dull story straight. Still, an image or two lingers. For one thing, Jupiter Ascending explains those endlessly debated crop circles without stopping in its tracks for a verbal explanation.
The new SpongeBob movie’s plot honors the series’ key themes. Plankton is still after Mr. Krabs’ secret formula for Krabby Patties. Antonio Banderas narrates the story to a flock of seagulls, and his pirate character has insidious food-truck ambitions. Sponge Out of Water doesn’t deliver SpongeBob and the gang to the “real,” non-animated world until quite late in the film, which runs a reasonable-sounding 93 minutes. Yet those 93 feel like more than enough.
American Sniper (R) ★★✩✩✩
Director Clint Eastwood’s latest film is reverent and slippery. You don’t have to know much about the real Navy SEAL marksman Chris Kyle to wonder if it’s telling the whole truth about him. The film is one life-anddeath sequence after another, and the filmmaking is efficient, crisply delivered. But Eastwood honors his subject without really getting under his skin. Bradley Cooper plays Kyle as a “legend” whose vulnerabilities remain a secret, even to himself, until the breaking point. Cooper is very good, as is Sienna Miller as Kyle’s wife.
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The hospice is planning an initiative, Deciding Tomorrow … Today, to encourage advance directives. What are the pitfalls of not having end-of-life care conversations?
The best way someone can die is to make sure their loved ones know how they feel about them and what they want. I hate pain and don’t want to experience pain at the end. Some people want to be more alert; I guarantee if I have that choice, please don’t let me be in a lot of pain. Those conversations are so important to have with your children so that when the time comes, they know what to do and they don’t have to worry about what did Mom want, what did Dad want.
Carole Fisher
The Nathan Adelson Hospice chief on planning for the inevitable, industry competition and Brad Garrett’s friendship
February 26–March 4, 2015
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VegasSeven.com
By Paul Szydelko
110
You joined Nathan Adelson Hospice in 2005 and became CEO/president in 2006. What drew you to health care and, more specifically, hospice?
My background is in social work. I tried many different areas to see what I enjoyed. I worked in the behavioral health care feld for eons, and I worked for mission-driven organizations and for-proft corporate organizations. At this stage in my life I wanted to get back to a missiondriven organization and really make sure that when I get up every day, I have purpose and I’m really helping people. It is an honor to work with people as they transition. I’m in awe of people when I have the opportunity to talk to them bedside; we touch their lives that way. It really fulflls my need [for a] sense of purpose.
What’s a good day for you?
When we make sure patients and their families have what they need during this journey. That’s making sure frst and foremost that pain is under control. What’s wonderful about hospice is its interdisciplinary approach. We don’t just look at physical; we look at spiritual and emotional. We get involved all the way around. Hospice is a $17 billion-a-year industry. How does a not-for-profit compete with so many forprofits in the Valley?
Every hospice wants a Medicare patient because Medicare pays 100 percent. Our competitors are much more strategic about the patients they are seeking. They’re looking for patients with less
Has any one patient stood out to you through the years?
A patient Cliff Kehoe and I became very close. He was an educator and worked with children in high-risk schools. On April Fools’ Day he was very weak, but he called the school. They put him on the intercom, he told the students that they were having pizza for lunch, and then he said, “April Fools.” He kept his sense of humor to the very end. It was so important to him that children in high-risk schools had what they needed, so I promised him that we would honor that, and Nathan Adelson adopted two classrooms (including one at where he worked, Robert Taylor Elementary in Henderson). He showed such courage. Knowing he wasn’t going to be alive much longer, he never wavered from helping others. We also had a nurse Terri Gerevich who worked for us for about 15 years. She was an amazing woman. She was like my boss; she’d come in and
tell me the way it was. She had a great sense of humor. She had bladder cancer, and she worked till the end. She would go into the inpatient unit once in awhile. We’d get her hydrated and feeling better and she’d go back and educate people about the end of life. She was a veteran in the Marines, and she said she wanted to watch over us for the rest of our years. So she wanted us to hang her fag that she got when she died, and so we have her fag on our fagpole. Hospice neither hastens nor delays death, but some states have physician-assisted suicide. Where does hospice fit in that dynamic?
There are a couple of people in our state who would like to see that legislation happen, and I met with them recently. The reason they were pushing for that legislation had to do with a young woman who had a painful death, and I asked if that person had been on hospice. She hadn’t, so what an opportunity for me at that point to educate about the value of hospice, because we relieve pain and suffering. I don’t see today a role for Nathan Adelson Hospice with that legislation because we know our good work makes a difference at the end of life. We touch on all those issues— the physical, the emotional and the spiritual. I see hospice as being value-added to the end of life; it doesn’t take away. Comedian Brad Garrett does commercials for you. How did he become involved?
He has become a great friend to our organization and to me the last fve years. He had a dear friend who needed to go to an inpatient facility. This man was in his early 50s and had a wife and young children, and he didn’t want to die at home. His friend came in, and we took care of him. Brad wanted to make sure he gave back and wanted to spruce up the facility. I asked him to be a spokesman. He did a television commercial for us [and his contributions grew]. He helps educate that hospice is OK. Here’s this man who’s known to be so funny, he personalizes the subject and he makes it OK to ask for help at the end of life. What does Fisher believe is the biggest concern families of hospice patients have? Read the full interview at VegasSeven.com/CaroleFisher.
PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA
SEVEN QUESTIONS
expensive illnesses and long lengths of stay. The longer you are on hospice the more funds you’ll bring in. … The competition is an opportunity for us because we have to make sure the community understands what makes us different. I would ask the community to wonder what a for-proft hospice does with its money. Many of those for-profits accept donations, yet those same for-proft hospices call us at least once a week with a referral for an uncompensated case. … Anyone who works bedside, whether they’re in a mission-driven organization or in a for-proft, they’re angels and their work is unbelievable. It’s the organization I question the purpose and intent of.