Open house will celebrate new city health headquarters

First lady Dawn Gibbons and Mayor Marv Teixeira are among those expected to help celebrate the grand opening of Carson City's headquarters for its Health and Human Services and the Community Counseling Center.

The new 26,000-square-feet building at 900 E. Long St. is the former Carson-Tahoe Hospital rehabilitation center site.

"We're very excited and, for the most part, we've moved in," said Daren Winkelman, the city's health director.

The event will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. People can take a tour of the new building, learn about the programs offered there, and enjoy some refreshments.

Also on the grounds will be the department's emergency-response trailers. One trailer is for outreach efforts to aid the city's homeless. Another is used for dispensing emergency supplies and giving out medicine. The third is for dogs and cats found during disasters.

"There might be some puppies for the grand opening, too," Winkelman said.

The new building near the Senior Center and Autumn Village will allow residents easier access to these city services. If someone visits the clinic and also has another problem the city can help with, the person can be directed to an employee working nearby who handles that function, he said.

Responsibilities of Health and Human Services include environmental health, code enforcement, epidemiology, parking enforcement, public health preparedness, and the women, children and infants program.

Family planning, well-baby checks, pregnancy testing, immunizations and reproductive health screenings are among services offered at the health clinic, operated by a contractor hired by the city.

The Community Counseling Center, formerly known as the Detox Center, is on the upper floor of the building.

It moved in last year from its former location near the city jail.

About two dozen employees with Health and Human Services, and the Health Services Clinic, occupy the bottom floor of the new building.

Animal services will remain at 3770 Butti Way, so the animals will only be there for the grand opening.

• Contact reporter Terri Harber at tharber @nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 215.

If you go

WHAT: Grand opening for

Carson City's Health and Human Services department headquarters

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday

WHERE: 900 E. Long St.