County Board of Health Meets to Review Data

By Leanna Lehman —

Members of the Churchill County Board of Health met Tuesday for their quarterly meeting to assess the success of community health initiatives implemented over the last two years.

Shannon Ernst, Churchill County Social Services Director, presented data on core health strategies designed to increase community awareness and improve access to county health resources. Several target areas were discussed with reports given on various degrees of success.

Too Good for Drugs (TGFD):  A drug awareness program that has been implemented in the elementary and middle school, the program is designed to promote life skills and various peer influence and substance resistance skills.  According to the U.S. Department of Education, TGFD appears to have potentially positive effects on students. Youth participation in the program in Churchill County since implementation has increased from 450 students in 2017 to over 1200 students currently. 

Elderly Differential Response Liaison(EDRL): Another area of concern for the Board has been local seniors who have been exploited or subject to abuse. The EDRL was able to address nine cases 2017-2018, an additional 19 cases last year, and report 11 cases still active. The Board agreed to move forward and increase resources for the elderly and expand outreach locations.

Forensic Assessment Services Triage Team (FASTT): Working in partnership with county agencies, The Board of Health set out to address the prevailing mental illness and addiction problem plaguing incarcerated individuals detained locally. It is estimated that 60% of inmates nationwide have addiction/dependence problems and up to 50% also have a mental health diagnosis. The FASTT program participation in Churchill County increased from 28 in the first year to 130 in the current year. Ernst reported impressive results, stating “The program has seen only nine participants re-offend while other counties in Nevada have seen a re-offend rate high as 40%.”

Youth Pregnancy & STD/STIs: A continuing problem in both urban and rural communities is youth pregnancies and the prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. According to data collected from the office of the Community Health Nurse in Churchill County, the rate of sexually transmitted infections declined from 2017 to 2018, however youth pregnancies did not. It’s important to note that over the reporting period, the Community Health Nurse Clinic was not always staffed or open to the public. The data collected does not include unreported instances of either STD transmission or youth pregnancies.

Community Health Nurse: Among the community health concerns discussed at the meeting, the absence of a Community Health Nurse appears to be directly correlated to areas seeing the least improvement. According to Ernst, problems on the state level are in part responsible for the vacancy. Further, the County received funding for a Community Health Liaison that could help implement community health initiatives and provide services to local residents as well as detained juveniles and adults. With a one-year funding cycle, this position has also gone unfilled. The Board’s frustration was evident as several members expressed grave concerns and moved the issue to the forefront of the next agenda. Board Chair, Tedd McDonald, M.D., and the Social Services staff will work together in the interim, in hopes of finding a solution.

The Behavioral Health Task Force: In response to the general increase in mental health issues, the need to improve community understanding of behavioral health and to enhance support services, the county has implemented several key strategies. Local law enforcement and first responders now receive ongoing education as well as intensive Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) to ensure better outcomes when interacting with patients living with mental illness. Additionally, New Frontier Treatment Center now has both youth and adult resources available. Lana Robards, the Director of New Frontier Treatment Center, discussed potential assistance and partnership with county agencies as the facility’s recent designation as a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic opens up opportunities for more wide-spread addiction and mental health support.

The Board collectively decided to move forward with the next steps in each community health area targeted and will assess further as more data becomes available.

Members of the Board of Health are Chairman Tedd McDonald, D.O., M.H.A; Bus Scharmann, County Commissioner; Pete Olse, County Commissioner; Carl Erquiaga, County Commissioner; Richard Hickok, Churchill County Sheriff.