For immediate release: February 20, 2007

Contact:  Emily Wofford Cobb
Public Relations Manager
775-784-6006
ewofford@unr.edu

School of Medicine publishes 2007 edition of the

Nevada Rural and Frontier Health Data Book

Publication offers the most current and comprehensive source of county-level data

on health and healthcare in Nevada

RENO, Nev.—Did you know that 87% of Nevada’s land mass is made up of rural and frontier counties?  Did you know just 10% of the state’s population live in those counties?  Have you ever considered the great lengths those 268,542 Nevadans have to travel to receive healthcare?

Spread out over 95,431 square miles of frontier, the average distance most rural Nevadans must travel to reach one of the sixteen acute care hospitals in rural counties or to reach one of the closest tertiary care hospitals in Reno, Las Vegas or Salt Lake City is 114 miles.  These surprising statistics are just a few of the healthcare facts you will find in the 2007 edition of the Nevada Rural and Frontier Health Data Book. 

Published bi-annually by the Nevada Office of Rural Health, a program of the Center for Education and Health Services Outreach at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, the data book contains a wide range of current information on population health and the healthcare delivery system in rural and frontier regions of the state.  The data book is designed as a tool for public policy makers, healthcare professionals and administrators, rural healthcare advocates and the residents of rural Nevada.   The primary purpose of the publication is to provide the most current and accurate data on rural healthcare to these audiences.

The data presented in the 2007 edition of the Nevada Rural and Frontier Health Data Book spotlight important differences among rural, urban and frontier areas of the state.  According to John Packham, Ph.D., co-author of the data book, the premise of the publication is that characteristics distinguishing urban from rural and frontier areas have important impacts on population health, the availability of hospital and other healthcare resources and access to healthcare services.

“The age distribution of a county has a significant influence on the health state and healthcare needs of a population,” says Packham, who is director of the Nevada Rural Hospital Flexibility Program within the Office of Rural Health.  “All things being equal, rural counties tend to have an older population.  Older populations are at greater risk of serious illness and death than younger populations and use a larger share of healthcare resources.  Important differences in demographics, economics and social characteristics exist between urban, rural, and frontier areas and they produce differences in health priorities, access to care and the delivery of health services.”

To highlight these differences within the publication, Packham and co-author Tabor Griswold, health services research analyst for the Office of Rural Health, divided the Nevada Rural and Frontier Health Data Book into the following sections:

• Demographic characteristics in rural and frontier Nevada, including recent population estimates and projections;
• The social and economic characteristics of rural and frontier Nevada, including data on income, poverty, and educational attainment;
• Population health issues and health insurance coverage in rural and frontier Nevada;
• The healthcare workforce in rural and frontier Nevada, including estimates and projections for many healthcare occupations across the major regions of the state;
• Hospital and other healthcare resources in rural and frontier Nevada;
• Economic aspects of healthcare in rural and frontier Nevada including estimates of the income and employment impact of the healthcare sector in each rural and frontier county.

“The need for increased access to care is acute across the state,” says Packham.  “The data in this publication is compiled to help us make educated policy decisions by looking at trends and statistics.”

An important statistic Packham points to is the projected growth for healthcare occupations in both urban and rural areas of the state.  While the demand for health occupations in urban areas is expected to exceed that of rural areas, the projected growth in the number of rural healthcare jobs is anticipated to grow by nearly 50% from the 7,737 jobs in 2004 to 11,208 jobs in 2014.

To learn more about Nevada’s rural health statistics or to view a copy of the Nevada Rural and Frontier Health Data Book in its entirety, visit www.medicine.nevada.edu/dept/CEHSO/Documents/DataBook2007.pdf.  Hard copies of the report may be obtained by contacting Packham at 775-784-1235 or jpackham@medicine.nevada.edu.

As the state’s only public medical school, the University of Nevada School of Medicine has been meeting statewide healthcare, educational, and clinical needs since 1969.  The School of Medicine encompasses 16 clinical medical education departments, including Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, as well as ten nationally-recognized departments within basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering.  As the largest multi-specialty healthcare focus within the state, the School of Medicine employs more than 185 doctors who both teach and practice medicine throughout Nevada.  The school’s statewide faculty physician practice group has a combined 25 different medical specialties with seven physician practice offices located in the Reno-Sparks area and five physician offices located in Las Vegas.

The University of Nevada School of Medicine utilizes a best-practice approach to medicine and is committed to addressing the health needs of Nevada now and in the future. For more information, please visit www.medicine.nevada.edu.

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