Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 14–Senators Care, Amodei, Carlton, Cegavske, Coffin, Hardy, Mathews, McGinness, Neal, Nolan, O’Connell, Raggio, Rawson, Rhoads, Schneider, Shaffer, Tiffany, Titus, Townsend, Washington and Wiener

 

Joint Sponsors: Assemblymen Goldwater, Anderson, Andonov, Angle, Arberry, Atkinson, Beers, Brown, Buckley, Carpenter, Chowning, Christensen, Claborn, Collins, Conklin, Geddes, Gibbons, Giunchigliani, Goicoechea, Grady, Griffin, Gustavson, Hardy, Hettrick, Horne, Knecht, Koivisto, Leslie, Mabey, Manendo, Marvel, McClain, McCleary, Mortenson, Oceguera, Ohrenschall, Parks, Perkins, Pierce, Sherer, Weber and Williams

 

FILE NUMBER..........

 

Senate Concurrent RESOLUTION—Memorializing prominent physician and philanthropist Elias Ghanem.

 

    Whereas, The members of the Nevada State Legislature join

 the people of the State of Nevada to celebrate the life and mourn

 the loss of Elias Ghanem who passed away on August 27, 2001;

 and

    Whereas, Elias Ghanem, known for his skill and caring as a

 physician and for his spirit of generosity, was born on March 12,

 1939, in Haifa, Israel, and was a 30-year resident of Las Vegas; and

    Whereas, Elias Ghanem arrived in the United States in 1963

 looking for the American Dream, with little more than $90 to his

 name and a scholarship to a North Carolina college, and at times

 lived out of his car while subsequently working his way through

 Duke University School of Medicine; and

    Whereas, After interning at the University of Southern

 California, Elias Ghanem journeyed to Las Vegas in 1971 to

 become an emergency room physician at Sunrise Hospital,

 beginning what was to be a long and illustrious career in the

 medical field; and

    Whereas, A few years later, Dr. Ghanem began his own family

 practice, and beginning in 1977, he opened the first of several

24-hour clinics, Las Vegas Medical Centers, to serve the people of

 Las Vegas; and

    Whereas, After serving as the hotel doctor for the Las Vegas

 Hilton, Dr. Ghanem became known as the “physician to the stars”

 because he became the personal physician to such celebrities as

 Elvis Presley, Liberace, Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby, Ann-Margret,

 Wayne Newton and Virginia Kelley, the mother of former President

 Bill Clinton; and

    Whereas, Dr. Ghanem cared for patients from every walk of

 life, including casino workers, culinary workers and teachers, and

was known for treating everyone with the same care and dignity,

whether the patient be poor and homeless or a celebrity; and

    Whereas, During the 6-year strike at the Frontier Hotel, one of

 the longest labor disputes in the history of this country, Dr. Ghanem

 provided free medical care and delivered more than 100 babies for

 the striking workers; and

    Whereas, Through the Elias F. Ghanem Medical Scholarship

 Fund, there are many more doctors and nurses in the medical field

 to carry on his legacy of dedicated medical care; and

    Whereas, Elias Ghanem, known for his generous nature and

 charm, lived life to the fullest, was fluent in French, Arabic,

 English and Hebrew, and immersed himself in the worlds of

 medicine, politics, philanthropy, entertainment and sports,

 especially boxing; and

    Whereas, During his 14-year tenure on the Nevada Athletic

 Commission, Elias Ghanem served intermittently as Chairman,

 with Nevada hosting an unprecedented number of major

 championship fights which were televised throughout the world and

 which broke records for gross paid gates, increasing the visibility

 and enhancing the reputation of the State of Nevada as a force in

 the world of professional boxing; and

    Whereas, As the Commissioner of the Nevada Athletic

 Commission, Elias Ghanem was largely attributed with raising the

 stature of boxing in Nevada by implementing health and safety

 procedures which have been adopted throughout the boxing world,

 such as mandating that all boxing rings in Nevada have four ropes,

 instead of three, to prevent fighters from sustaining serious injury

 from falling through the ropes, and mandating the testing of boxers

 for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C; and

    Whereas, Among his many awards, Elias Ghanem was the

 recipient of the University of Nevada Distinguished Nevadan

 Award, the Victor Award for his contribution to sports, and was

 named “Man of the Year” for the National Jewish Hospital and

 American Jewish Committee; and

    Whereas, Elias Ghanem is survived by his wife, Jody,

 daughter, Crystal Ann, sons, Elias II and Farid, brother, Nasser, and

 six nieces, all of Las Vegas; now, therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Senate of the State of Nevada, the

 Assembly Concurring, That the members of the 72nd Session

 of the Nevada Legislature do hereby extend their sincere

 condolences to the family and friends of Elias Ghanem; and be it

 further

    Resolved, That the residents of the State of Nevada will miss

 the compassion, generosity and enthusiasm of Elias Ghanem; and

 be it further

    Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate prepare and

transmit a copy of this resolution to Elias Ghanem’s loving wife,

 Jody.

 

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