Nonprofit Spotlight: NVHC | Nevada Health Centers celebrates 40 years of caring

On February 15, 2017, Nevada Health Centers (NVHC) begins a year-long celebration commemorating 40 years of providing quality healthcare services to residents throughout the state of Nevada.

NVHC was first organized in 1977 as a public entity, called the Central Nevada Rural Health Consortium (CNRHC). The counties of Nye, Esmeralda, Lincoln and Mineral entered into a cooperative agreement to establish primary care health centers in each county.

Over the years other counties were added and more rural health centers were opened to provide access to quality healthcare throughout Nevada. In 1994 the organization became a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and the name was changed to Nevada Rural Health Centers (NVRHC).

That same year, NVRHC became a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), which allowed the organization to request funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). In June 2001 the organization expanded services to the Las Vegas area, and the name was changed to Nevada Health Centers, Inc. (NVHC).

We’ve spent the past 40 years becoming a model primary health organization serving Nevada’s communities. What started as a small, grassroots effort in Hawthorne has evolved into a multi-facility, multi-county network of health centers traversing the Silver State.

Today, NVHC is the largest Nevada-based FQHC, providing primary care services to the insured and uninsured populations living in Nevada.

The organization serves communities throughout the state, with 18 primary care health centers; two dental sites; seven Women, Infants and Children sites; two school-based programs; a visiting nurse program; and two mobile programs: the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, which provides dental care to children, and the Mammovan, providing mammogram screenings. NVHC has more than 370 employees, including more than 60 providers, in urban, rural and frontier locations of Nevada.

As we look to the future, we’ll reflect the same time-honored traditions of high quality care and exceptional customer service for which we’re known, and we’ll embrace new ideas, technologies, and partnerships to extend our reach to more individuals and families in need of our special brand of care.

Healthcare is always changing, and our challenge is to remain nimble and flexible, and willing to adapt when needed. If we can continue to do that, we’ll be well positioned for many years to come.

We are proud of the work we do, and we’d like you to join us in our celebration throughout the year. From time to time we will create social media posts showing how far we’ve come as an organization and casting a nostalgic eye on what was happening during each of the past four decades in which we’ve served. You can follow us on the web at nvhealthcenters.org, and on Facebook and Twitter at @NVHC1977.

Of course, through all this, we will continue to fulfill our mission to provide access to quality healthcare services throughout Nevada.

To make an appointment, please call 800-787-2568.

NVHC provides care to all individuals throughout Nevada. Payment sources accepted include the following: private insurance*, Medicaid and Medicare, Nevada Check Up, Women’s Health Connection, and a sliding fee scale for low-income uninsured patients.

*Most insurance is accepted, but we recommend checking with your insurance carrier to ensure Nevada Health Centers is included on its provider list.