Dr. Tony Alamo is the chief physician executive and chief medical officer for Nevada Heart & Vascular Center, the state’s largest cardiology group. A Las Vegas native, he graduated from Chaparral High School, UNLV and the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He recently received the 2025 University of Southern California “Alumni Service Award,” one of the highest honors given by the USC Alumni Association.
Besides health care, you’ve been involved in other industries and public service. Can you share some highlights?
I was honored to be the first non-attorney to chair the Nevada Gaming Commission. I also chaired the Nevada Athletic Commission and volunteered for two decades as a tactical physician with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s SWAT team. They honored me with a Medal of Unit Valor for helping with a hostage rescue operation in 2006.
How are medical advances and changes in your industry affecting health care in Southern Nevada?
The pace of change in the health care industry is accelerating. From AI and robotics to advances with new drugs, it’s a challenge to keep up. But we’re doing great things here. For example, one of our doctors from Nevada Heart & Vascular recently treated the first patient in Nevada to undergo an innovative new procedure to reduce high blood pressure. This new FDA-approved Symplicity procedure offers a breakthrough option by providing continuous blood pressure reduction to those patients with medication-resistant hypertension. We’re proud to be the first to bring this innovative technology to Nevada.
What do you think is the biggest challenge in health care facing Southern Nevada?
Having spent more than three decades in the health care industry, I’d say it’s our shortage of health care professionals at every level, from physicians to nurses to specialists and technicians. We’re making progress, but we still need more available medical talent here. We can’t move fast enough. The main reason it’s not just chaos in our community is because the medical professionals here are so passionate and dedicated about caring for the people who live here
–contributed by George McCabe