Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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DESERT PATROL INSIGHT Pedigree: The native North Carolinian went to undergrad at UNC and did his residency at Duke before moving to Reno and finally Vegas. Case study: "We have a hangover scoring system and a 95 percent client satisfaction rate. I'm getting ready to submit a research paper on it." The idea for the bus came to Burke while working in the recovery room at a local hospital, when he realized he could concoct a formula to help hangovers from medi- cines designed for post-operative nausea and headaches. He took his first customers in April and has already treated more than 600 people, including tourists in bachelor and bachelorette parties and groups of well- off men in their 30s and 40s. ("Eighty percent of our clients are male, and we have a 10 per- cent discount for groups of six or more," he says.) Some of the bus's features include bunk beds, lounges and, for a little comic relief, flat-screens playing The Hangover. The bus allows 10 to 14 people to be treated at a time, "depending on how chummy you are with your bus mates," and Burke treats every one himself, easing the booze-induced pains of naïve drinkers. He'll also go to hotel rooms and make house calls for an additional fee. The actual treatment is simple: After reviewing a patient's medical history, Burke holy hangover AS BUSINESS BOOMS, THE BIG WHEELS KEEP ON TURNING FOR DR. JASON BURKE, FOUNDER OF THE HANGOVER HEAVEN BUS. BY LAUREN CUMMINS I f your remedy for a hangover is two quarts of Gatorade, a triple espresso, three Advil, and a trip to Denny's, you're behind the times. Dr. Jason Burke's groundbreaking treatment on his Hangover Heaven bus is the latest only-in-Vegas enticement to hit our admittedly wild Strip. "It was definitely a stretch to quit anesthesia full time to treat hangovers," says Burke, who has lived in Vegas for seven years. "I still wake up in the morning and think, I did what?" 62 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM administers either the Redemption package ($90) or the Salvation package ($150) through IVs. For comparison, Burke says the aver- age cost to cure a hangover at a hospital is around $6,000. "We can cure a moderate hangover in 45 min- utes and a more severe one in an hour and a half," he says. His permanent location—a new 1,400-square-foot facility on Highland Drive—opened in June, while the bus cruises mostly during the weekend prime time. Burke's quirky idea has become a gold mine—he's had to purchase two additional buses just to keep up with demand. The doctor is also currently in talks with businesspeople and investors from all over the world looking to franchise Hangover Heaven buses in their own cities, as well as a reality TV show producer or two. "Tourists come for a weekend, and all they are going to remember about Las Vegas is a 36-hour hangover," Burke says. "But we've treated people who were nauseous, feeling horrible, and then they went to ride roller coasters or to the Ferrari Driving Experience—things they could never have done with a hangover." 3281 S. Highland Dr., 702-900-0660; hangoverheaven.com V PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHER DEVARGAS