Every county in Nevada has been federally designated as experiencing a mental health provider shortage, as there is one provider for every 460 residents, according to an Aug. 21 report from Nevada Current.
Nevada is nationally ranked behind all states and Washington, D.C., in overall mental health and similar categories focusing on youth mental health. The state would have to add 235 mental healthcare practitioners to eliminate its federally designated mental health provider shortage.
Here are some things to know regarding what steps are being taken to address the mental health crisis in Nevada, according to the report.
$111 million was distributed for the U.S. Education Department to hire school counselors, social workers and psychologists. The allocated money came from the 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which President Joe Biden signed in early 2023. The bill was meant to address Nevada schools' third lowest ratio of psychologists and lowest ratio of social workers across the nation.
$2 million was invested to establish the Behavioral Health Workforce Development Center of Nevada at a Nevada System of Higher Education institution. The funding is through Assembly Bill 37, which the state authorized during the 82nd Session of the Nevada Legislature.
Desert Winds Hospital expanded their capacity by adding more beds for adults in recovery. The Las Vegas-based hospital offers recovery programs for mental health and substance use disorders, and the additional beds aim to decrease waiting time and overcrowding of emergency rooms' psychiatric units.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas's mental health clinic opened a satellite clinic dedicated to youth patients. The clinic, dubbed the PRACTICE, opened in the city's medical district through funding from the American Rescue and Recovery Act.