New health clinic for Culinary members opening west of Las Vegas Strip

The Culinary union’s newest healthcare facility opened its doors west of the Las Vegas Strip after a ribbon‑cutting ceremony Thursday for the recently built Culinary Health Center at the southwest corner of Tropicana Avenue and Cameron Street, adjacent to The Orleans. The two‑story, 98,900‑square‑foot complex provides primary care, mental‑wellness counseling, dental services, radiology, physical therapy and a pharmacy. It is slated to begin seeing patients Friday. Representing workers at most hotel‑casinos on the Strip and downtown, the politically influential Culinary union counts housekeepers, food and cocktail servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders and laundry workers among its membership. The union’s pension fund, the Western Unite Here and Employers Pension Fund, owns the property, while the Culinary Health Fund—which administers medical benefits for national members—serves as the tenant. Officials said the site marks the fourth and final Culinary Health Center in the Las Vegas Valley. Situated on a roughly 10‑acre parcel about two miles west of the Strip, the center is open to members of Culinary Local 226, Bartenders Local 165, IATSE Local 720 (stagehands and other entertainment technicians), American Federation of Musicians Local 369 and the families of those national members. It is not open to the general public. A news release estimates the facility will accommodate approximately 100,000 patient visits each year. Jesus Vidueira, president of the Culinary Health Fund, explained in Thursday’s interview that the clinics were deliberately placed where most national members reside. “Nearly 32,000 Culinary members live adjacent to the newest location, according to the union, and it’s also near where they work,” he said. “There’s a convenience factor here,” Vidueira said. He added that members and their dependents will receive care at the center with no out‑of‑pocket expenses, noting that costs are fully covered by employer‑funded insurance negotiated through collective bargaining agreements. Ted Pappageorge, secretary‑treasurer of Culinary Local 226, previously remarked in an interview that the health fund disburses roughly $750 million in claims annually. Before the medical center, the Tropicana site hosted a very different vision. During the mid‑2000s boom, developers unveiled plans for a two‑tower hotel‑condo complex with more than 1,000 units, a hibiscus‑shaped pool, spa and salon, and retail outlets. Dubbed Pinnacle Las Vegas, the proposal called for three levels of sky‑bridge suites between the towers, a claim that promotional material described as “defying not only normal but the precise instrument of gravity.” Like many other high‑rise concepts from that era, the project stalled on the drafting board and was never built. The land changed hands several times, and in 2018 property records show the Culinary union’s pension fund acquired the parcel for $11.5 million, a detail the Las Vegas Review‑Journal had reported earlier. Clark County commissioners gave final approval to the medical complex in early 2024, clearing the way for the facility that opened this week.