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UNLV President Chris Heavey and Dr. Alison Netski, interim dean of the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine, pose with an oversized check following a news conference at the medical school Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. Photo by: Steve Marcus / Las Vegas Sun

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

A $2 million gift from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Nevada will help UNLV train more rheumatologists as the state struggles to meet demand for specialized care.

The gift establishes the Anthem Fellowship Endowment, a permanent funding source that will support specialty physician training at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine, university officials announced Wednesday.

The endowment will provide two years of funding for one trainee to work under expert rheumatologists at the medical school. A new trainee will be selected every two years, with officials hoping the program will encourage more physicians to stay in Nevada.

The state is projected to have only about 44% of the rheumatology workforce needed to meet demand by 2037 — the third-lowest share in the nation, according to a study published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Rheumatologists diagnose and treat autoimmune and inflammatory conditions affecting the bones, muscles, joints and internal organs, including rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

UNLV Health, the university’s network of community clinics, handles about 250,000 patient visits annually across Southern Nevada and employs roughly 150 physicians. But CEO Joann Strobbe said, “It’s not enough.”

Appointments with UNLV Health’s rheumatologists can be booked six to eight weeks out, Strobbe said, making it difficult for patients to get the timely care they need.

Anthem has been working with the medical school for about two years to establish the endowment, said Joy Thomas, president and CEO of government business at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Nevada.

Timely access to specialized care can help patients manage symptoms, prevent complications and maintain their quality of life, Thomas said. Symptoms can be severe enough to keep patients from working, attending school or completing everyday tasks.

Thomas, whose daughter sees a rheumatologist, said she is “familiar with how hard it is to get appointments in that specialty.”

Paul Joncich, a spokesperson for the medical school, said he had to wait months for his daughter to see a rheumatologist, an experience he attributed to Southern Nevada’s shortage.

UNLV officials said expanding training opportunities is part of a broader effort to build the state’s physician workforce and keep more medical professionals in Nevada.

“What we do in this building is so important to support the healthcare needs of this society and our community here, and in Southern Nevada, we’re constantly playing catch-up to the needs of a fast-growing, thriving Southern Nevada community,” UNLV President Chris Heavey said Wednesday during a check presentation at the medical school.

Heavey said medical school graduates often leave Southern Nevada when they cannot find residency positions locally, and gifts such as Anthem’s can help retain that talent.

Roughly 60% of physicians practiced in the state where they completed their residency training, according to an Association of American Medical Colleges analysis covering 2014 through 2023.

But many UNLV medical school graduates leave Nevada for residency. From 2021 through 2025, 42% of residency placements for Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine graduates were in-state, according to a report from Brookings Mountain West and the Lincy Institute.

Interim Dean Alison Netski said part of the medical school’s mission is to build a pipeline that helps more Nevada high school students enter medical school and complete their training in the state. A shortage of residency positions, however, can make it difficult to keep them here.

“I wish I could say money is not always the biggest barrier, but sometimes it’s a huge barrier,” Netski said. “Having this program in place so that we are going to have stable, stable financial resources in perpetuity for rheumatology is really great.”

Thomas said Anthem wanted the investment to continue benefiting the community over time.

“We look forward to having these trained medical professionals serve our community and meet the needs not just of our Anthem Medicaid members, but of the community as a whole,” she said.

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