Pershing County shared a Heath Nurse with Humboldt County until she retired in 2022. That office located in the Annex building at 535 Western Ave now houses the Pershing County Office of the Central Nevada Health District (CNHD). CNHD can be called in Lovelock 8am - 5pm Monday through Friday at 775 273-6285 or in Fallon at 775 867-8181. The Pershing County website https://www.pershingcountynv.gov/ has a link to the CNHD website for convenience which also has a calendar of events.
The recent History of the Central Nevada Health District
Rural public health was primarily provided by the State of Nevada’s Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH), which coordinated grants, provides public health nurses, and otherwise works with local communities to meet their public health needs.
Nevada’s two urban areas, Clark County and Washoe County, have established health districts, while four contiguous (Quad) counties Carson City, Storey County, Lyon County, and Douglas County, work together through contracts to provide public health services without establishing a regional health district. With these six counties providing for much of their own public health needs, 11 rural counties in the state are directly served by DPBH.
The Central Nevada Health District (CNHD) is the result of five communities in four counties seeking opportunities to provide better public health services. First approved in August of 2022, CNHD was developed based on the belief that local communities knew, understood, and could provide services for their populations better than the state could. It came from the belief that through combining the resources and efforts of multiple rural communities, they could increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their services. And it came from an understanding that local leaders in rural Nevada could improve public health outcomes by prioritizing public health services in their region.
Anticipating success in establishing the CNHD, the State of Nevada has already funded and built a satellite location for the State Public Health Lab in Churchill County, one of the four counties in CNHD.
In Nevada by population Churchill ranks 8th with 506,016 (Fallon has 9,393), Pershing ranks 11th with 6,620, Mineral ranks 13th with 4,488, and are contiguous, Eureka ranks 16th with 1,816.
Once approved in December 2022, progress toward establishing CNHD
was achieved quickly. The Board (of Health) comprised of (Chair) Mayor Kenny Tedford and Bob Erickson for Fallon. County Manager Jim Barbee and Shannon Ernst for Churchill County, (Vice Chair) Commissioner Cassie Hall and Denise Ferguson for Mineral County, Commissioner Larry Rackley and Tyson McBride for Pershing County . Some of CNHD staff are Dr. Justin Heath Medical Representative, (Administration and Managers) Interim Administrator Caleb Cage, Public Health Preparedness Manger Tiandra Rushing, and Desire Reeves. CNHD held its first meeting on December 8, 2022, and from January through June 2023, initial steps were taken to fully realize the promise of the district. The Central Nevada Health District (CNHD) began serving the communities in its four counties and one city on July 1, 2023.
The agendas and minutes are available at the Churchill County website https://www.churchillcountynv.gov/1081/Agendas-Minutes and through links can be viewed on YouTube.
CNHD will be the first of its kind in Nevada, not only because it is a formal health district comprising multiple counties, but also because it will be the first health district established in rural Nevada. Its success will benefit the residents of Fallon, Churchill County, Eureka County, Mineral County, and Pershing County.
Look for an announcement of the continuation of our annual Flu POD for October at the Pershing County Community Center.