Nevada ranks dead last in health spending
Nevada ranks dead last in another national list: per capita public health spending.
And this poor showing comes from a homegrown study. At $39, Nevada spends about one-sixth the amount of the leading state, Alaska, which averages about $224 per resident, a community health assessment from the Southern Nevada District Board of Health shows.
The assessment will be used to develop a community health improvement plan, a key part of the health district’s efforts to be recognized by the Public Health Accreditation Board.
Public health program money comes from three main sources: the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal Health Resources and Services Administration and state governments.
Alaska, the District of Columbia, New York and Hawaii have more than $100 per resident in their state public health budgets, money in addition to the federal funding. Nevada’s state public health budget averages $7.85 per person, according to the Trust for America’s Health, a Washington-based health policy group.
In Nevada, public health care services are provided by state officials in areas outside of Clark and Washoe counties, which have their own health departments.
“Nevada sits on two legs of a three-legged stool,” said Dr. Joseph Iser, chief health officer for the Southern Nevada Health District said Thursday. “We get virtually nothing from the state.”
The assessment, created by the health district with support from United Way of Southern Nevada, UNLV, the American Heart Association, the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce and Dignity Health Nevada, will be used to help prioritize public health needs in Clark County and identify the resources to meet them.
The 91-page document, which was presented to the health district board Thursday, examines the array, availability and quality of public health care services in Southern Nevada.
Work on the community health improvement plan has begun with the goal of completing the document in August or September. The first meeting of officials from the health district and the other agencies is scheduled this month. The plan will detail goals, objectives and strategies aimed at improving the health of the community.
One of the priority issues identified in the assessment is maternal and child health with an emphasis on teen and preterm births, and low birth weights. Ying Zhang, a senior scientist with the health district, told the board that congenital defects account for the top cause of infant deaths in Southern Nevada, and low birth weights and premature births are the second-leading cause.
Another priority issue was reducing the mortality rate associated with infectious diseases such as influenza and pneumonia.
“We still have a long way to go to meet the U.S. averages,” Zhang said.
Contact Steven Moore at smoore@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563.
