The end of the year is a typical time for people to think about what has happened over the past 12 months and to set goals for the next year. In 2023, the divisions within Carson City Health and Human Services came together and worked as a team to accomplish many great things. As we move into 2024, we will continue working as a T.E.A.M., because together, everyone achieves more. Below are a few highlights from the CCHHS team.
Chronic disease prevention and health promotion
The tobacco prevention program has engaged in over 40 presentations and outreach events. We collaborated with statewide partners on four initiatives: Let’s Talk Vaping, Behind the Haze, Responsible Tobacco, and Attracting Addiction.
The Preventive Health and Health Services program has been revamped to improve the outreach to patients who visit our clinic and have an interest in living a healthier lifestyle. Program planning occurred throughout 2023 and is ready for launch in the new year.
The now fully staffed Adolescent Health Education program increased the education opportunities for youth with the help of community partners. We teach in middle schools, high schools, juvenile justice facilities, and summer program settings within four counties.
The Ryan White HIV/AIDS program is being redesigned and they are using CCHHS as the model for the state of Nevada.
Clinic services
It has been a fantastic year for the clinical services team in helping our community. We are incredibly grateful to serve so many every day, week, and month.
One of the most exciting things to happen for us this year is the renovation of the clinic lobby. Through a grant we secured, we have enhanced the clinic waiting area so patients can feel more comfortable while they wait for their appointments. The initial part of the renovation occurred in December, with the rest being completed by June 2024. We appreciate the feedback patients have given us to assist with the renovation design.
Some of our other gold stars for this last year include:
• Administering over 2,475 vaccines to community members.
• Placing more than 450 tuberculosis tests.
• Serving more than 1,500 patients.
• Staff completing more than 320 hours of continuing education training.
We are here to serve everyone in the community, including you. If we have assisted you before, we look forward to helping you again in 2024. If we have not served you before, we hope to provide you with excellent customer service in the new year. To learn more about our services, visit https://www.gethealthycarsoncity.org/divisions/clinical-services.
Environmental health
This year, for the first time, the Environmental Health Team actively participated in public outreach events starting with Kids Day in May. EH used public outreach as a platform to promote our dogma and share with our constituents and partners who we are and what we do, and we were able to build relationships.
We successfully addressed and mitigated serious customer allegations regarding imminent health hazards for major retailers serving food to the public and developed and implemented environmentally friendly systems and inspection report methodologies to support Inspectors in the field during temporary event inspections. Over 2,400 services were provided in Carson City and Douglas County.
Lastly, after receiving grant funding awards, we focused our energy on investing in our team. We created and institutionalized a strong onboarding program to support cohesion, teamwork, uniformity, and standardization for the future.
Epidemiology
In 2023, the CCHHS Epidemiology Division processed 7,276 reports of communicable disease. Of those reports, 4,527 (62%) were confirmed or probable cases based on CDC case definitions. We also worked with EH on improving the process of receiving and responding to foodborne illness complaints in the community. We contributed to Get Healthy Carson City articles by writing about sexually transmitted infections and hepatitis. Additionally, we conducted in-person outreach with all the public schools in our surveillance area. This outreach allowed us to continue building our relationships with our public schools.
Fiscal
CCHHS’ fiscal year 2024 budget is $10,640,864. CCHHS manages 45 grants, four program income accounts, and nine indigent fund accounts. Of the total budget, CCHHS is 51% grant funded.
Carson City Health and Human Services has 63 full-time and part-time employees, four of which are fiscal staff. Together with program staff and administration, we have successfully navigated 11 comprehensive grantor site visits. Consistently each year, CCHHS has zero audit findings.
Human services
In January, the Human Services Division had set the goal to rehouse “23 individuals in ’23.” We have rehoused a total of 84 individuals living in Carson City who did not have a home. Of the 84, 67 have moved into permanent housing and 10 remain in sheltering, working toward permanent housing.
We hosted the first open house for Sierra Flats project on Butti Way. This gave Carson City residents an opportunity to apply for affordable housing that will become available in March 2024.
CCHHS Women, Infants, and Children received two awards from the state of Nevada WIC program; one is a Certificate of Excellence for the Most Ever Breastfed participants, and a Certificate of Excellence for the Most Exclusively Breastfeeding for Six Months participants for the Nevada Rural WIC Clinics.
Public Health Preparedness
For PHP, 2023 was a year of collaboration and relationship building. PHP staff successfully conducted outreach with many long-term care facilities in the Quad County region (Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, and Storey counties). We worked to build strong relationships with the four new emergency managers and will continue to work closely with them on preparedness efforts.
PHP staff participated in various community outreach events in each of the Quad Counties this year, providing important emergency preparedness information. The team also conducted 21 Community Flu Vaccination Outreach events throughout the region, vaccinating over 755 individuals, 283 of those being 65 and older, which is one of the most vulnerable populations.
Finally, 2023 was a year of educating and training. Staff provided multiple trainings to healthcare facilities in the region and brought in a nationally renowned course on the Hospital/Nursing Home Incident Command System to increase our healthcare system’s ability to respond to an emergency. PHP staff attended national conferences, and one staff member presented at the National Healthcare Coalition Preparedness Conference in Las Vegas in November.
For information about the programs and services offered by Carson City Health and Human Services, check out our website at www.gethealthycarsoncity.org, follow us on X @CCHealthEd, “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cchhs, follow us Instagram @gethealthycarsoncity, call us at 775-887-2190, or visit us at 900 E. Long St., in Carson City.