The new health district that joins several rural Nevada counties has officially formed, bringing Mineral County into its fold. The idea for the new Central Nevada Health District (CNHD) came to fruition during the COVID-19 pandemic when Churchill County took the reins on providing covid testing and vaccination services to surrounding rural counties. During that time, Mineral County struggled with getting its residents tested and immunized as well as accurately reporting its numbers back to the state as different variants surged.
Churchill County stepped up, providing the health services and communication needed to keep the public informed and safe. Meanwhile, the Nevada state code 439.370 recognizes that an independent health district could be created by joining two or more towns or cities within a jurisdiction. Therefore, rural county officials went to work on making a new solid entity to mainly address and respond more quickly to public health issues. When the CNHD came about, the county’s board of health was abolished and this district board of health took its place, with representation from each county being present in public health discussions. This is the third district that has been approved in the State of Nevada and the first one to serve rural areas.
“Small, dispersed, and diverse populations in rural communities coupled with inadequate financial resources have traditionally limited services offered to these areas. However, by leveraging those funds with other counties, this expands the available resources creating a workable and efficient health department,” states the CNHD press release issued in early December.
The CNHD was officially approved on December 2 and its new members met in Churchill County on December 8 to elect its officers; approve bylaws; receive ethics training; establish policies and procedures; consider job descriptions; and consider creation/approval of interlocal agreements for contractual services. Board members representing Mineral County include County Commissioner Cassie Hall, Administrator Denise Ferguson, and the Mt. Grant General Hospital. Staff members who will be dedicated to the project include Interim Administrator Caleb Cage, Interim Health Officer Tedd McDonald MD, and Marena Works, a consultant with the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine.
The CNHD’s goal is to be fully implemented by July 1, 2023, and providing public health preparedness, nursing, disease investigation, and environmental health and disease prevention in Churchill, Pershing, Eureka, Mineral County, and the City of Fallon. Services offered by a health district will build on and not duplicate or replace any public health activity currently being performed in the area by other agencies.
The CNHD meets the second Thursday of each month at 1:30 p.m. at the Churchill County Commission Chambers in Fallon. For more information about the new Central Nevada Health District, visit http://www.churchillcounty.org/1071/Central-Nevada-Health-District.
