Health Care
Drive-thru vaccination clinic to open at Las Vegas Convention Center
Starting this week, you won’t even have to leave your car to get a covid-19 vaccine. Southern Nevada Health District and Clark County on Tuesday will open the region’s first large-scale drive-thru vaccination clinic, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The clinic will be able to administer more than 1,000 vaccines each day, according to […]
Legislation allows doctors to avoid ‘stigma’ of disclosing investigations
Doctors and other medical professionals in Nevada would be free to refer to an investigation by a licensing board as a ‘review and evaluation’ as long as no formal investigation is approved by the board, avoiding the potential downfall of revealing a probe that fizzles. “Justice delayed is justice denied for those who are eventually […]
$4B headed to Indian Country to help fight COVID-19
On Friday, the White House announced it will invest more than $4 billion to combat COVID-19 in Indian Country. Funding comes from the American Rescue Plan and is meant to expand COVID-19 vaccinations, testing and treatment. The investment will also help increase preventative health services to American Indians and Alaska Natives at higher risk for […]
Legislation targets state’s decades-old laws criminalizing HIV
Even as the science around HIV, as well as the medications to treat and suppress the virus, have advanced in nearly 30 years, the laws in Nevada criminalizing HIV have remained the same. Nathan Cisneros, the HIV criminalization analyst at UCLA LAW School’s Williams Institute, told lawmakers at the beginning of April that 37 people, […]
Democrats fan out to tout giant relief bill
With their reelections perhaps hinging on how the public will view the impact of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP), Democratic members of Nevada’s congressional delegation highlighted what they say the legislation will mean for schools, families, business owners, and medical providers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. For Nevada, the share of […]
Five creative ways Rachel Levine and Biden’s team can help rural health care
Rural hospitals have struggled with financial troubles for years. Over the past decade, more than 130 have closed, forcing residents to drive farther or delay needed care. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has many of them wondering whether rural health care systems will survive. Twenty percent of the U.S. population lives in rural America, a region […]
Nevada mental health resources would have to double just to be average
Nevada would need to double the number of psychologists and psychiatrists to be considered average by national standards. The national average is 30 psychologists and 15.6 psychiatrists per 100,000 residents. Nevada’s rate for these behavioral health professionals is 14.5 and 9, respectively. Other specialties are in even lower supply: Nevada would need to quadruple the […]
Lawmakers address barriers faced by homeless youth seeking medical care
Tayvon Jenkins, a youth ambassador with the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, said minors experiencing homelessness were turned away from Covid testing during the health pandemic. It’s not the only example lawmakers were given Wednesday about how Nevada law puts barriers in front of youth seeking health care. Pamela Girgis, a pediatric nurse practitioner who […]
Measure would bar insurance from denying gender-affirming procedures
Sy Bernabei, a trans and gender-nonconforming person who works with the nonprofit Gender Justice Nevada, paid $9,000 out of pocket for recent gender-affirming surgery to avoid dealing with private insurance. Albi Smedley, a non-binary trans person who is employed by Clark County School District, pays $300 out-of-pocket for hormones and is still excluded from having […]
Organ donor bill prompts Republican to warn gov’t will ‘make choices over our bodies’
A heart transplant recipient is asking state lawmakers to reconsider its approach to organ donation. If her proposal is embraced, Nevada would become the first state in the country where most people who register at the Department of Motor Vehicles would be automatically considered organ donors unless they formally indicate that they do not want […]
Lawmakers seek expanded study of maternal mortality
A committee tasked with exploring the reasons why some women are less likely to survive pregnancy has released its initial reports, and data confirms some expected disparities. Among racial and ethnic groups, Black women had the highest likelihood of a pregnancy-related death, with a ratio of 63 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to 2016-2017 […]
Personal care aide bill would help keep Nevadans at home, senator says
Ted Nagel’s arms and legs don’t work. He has a congenital condition that makes him completely dependent on others to perform the most basic tasks — eating, grooming, going to the bathroom. He must be carried to and from his bed, bathroom, and motorized wheelchair. These days he’s challenged to find a home care worker […]