Renown Health has a received $7.5 million from the William N. Pennington Foundation to hire and retain pediatric doctors.
On average in the U.S., there are 15 pediatricians for every 100,000 people, but in Reno, there are less than 10 pediatricians per that many residents.
That shortage is even more profound when you look at more specialized care.
"We have some pediatric sub-specialists in town. They're typically in solo practices, which means they're on-call 365 days a year, which is unrealistic," explains Larry Duncan, administrator for Renown Children's Hospital. "Then, we have other specialties where we have none at all."
Duncan says there are about ten subspecialties, including pediatric neurology and rheumatology, for which there are no practitioners in the region. That means families with sick children must travel for care.
Along with recruiting doctors, this funding will help pave the way for a pediatric medical residency program in partnership with the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine.