Betting on the Future by Re-Discovering the Past: History of Hospital Infrastructure in Early Las Vegas and Southern Nevada

In the summer of 2025, the library director began reviewing resources available from the University Libraries Special Collections Portal to learn about early hospital infrastructure in Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. Using the keyword “hospital”, they reviewed 1,000 records to locate primary resources that could help tell the story of Las Vegas’s first hospital and Southern Nevada early history. In total, they located photos, oral histories, city documents, and newspaper articles, to help put together a timeline of which hospitals, current events, and key figures were critical in establishing a medical presence in Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. Information was triangulated with secondary data including a dissertation, blogs, and books. The purpose of this research will be to launch the first digital exhibit at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine on the history of medicine in Southern Nevada during National Hospital Week, taking place May 10-16, 2026.