Behavioral health to get final grant payment from city

ELKO — Nevada Health Centers Inc. is receiving its final payment of $683,670 for its behavioral health expansion in Elko now that the program has met the concerns of Elko City Council members, who delayed the final payment last year. The council unanimously voted this week to provide the money after hearing a presentation from Nevada Health Centers on what behavioral health services are provided in Elko now that there is staff in place.

Council members committed over $1.91 million for behavioral health services and already paid $1.23 million of that since the Elko Behavioral Health Expansion Grant started in 2022.



However, the council put on a hold on the final payment last August because Mayor Reece Keener and the council wanted to see more progress. “This is a much different report than last time. I am really pleased to see you’ve turned the corner, and you are staffed up.

Now, just focus on retaining them,” Keener said. Councilman Giovanni Puccinelli concurred, stating on Tuesday he hopes the progress continues, and Councilman Chip Stone said he was pleased there are “people like you” who can help before a mental health crisis becomes critical. Patrick Rogers, clinical director for the nonprofit, told the council that “in the last six months I’ve never been more excited about what’s happening in Elko.

” Kendall Looney, director of operations for behavioral health, said the Elko behavioral health program has been offering individual and family therapy in-person appointments since November in Elko, as well as continuing virtual appointments. Nevada Health Center saw 472 unique patients from March 1, 2022, through March 31, 2025, for 2,220 encounters, with those in Elko and Spring Creek only totaling 290 unique patients and 1,519 encounters, according to a slide presentation to the council. The remaining 182 individuals and 759 encounters from March 2022 through March 31, 2025, were also in Elko County but outside Elko and Spring Creek.

According to one of the slides, there were 276 encounters in the first quarter of this year, a 43% increase from the 2024 quarter. Looney said the center is making access easier by waiving the requirement that patients be referred to behavioral health by a medical provider and the nonprofit organization provides psychiatrist access online through the Focus Mental Health Group in southern Nevada. “We have eight slots available every week for new patients and 52 patients have used this service since November,” she said.

The Nevada Health Centers behavioral health team includes, from left, Sylina Holmes, licensed clinical social worker; Dolly Alejandro-Wilson, the behavioral health case coordinator; and Lisa Pacheco, social services coordinator. Locally, the behavioral health team includes Sylina Holmes, a licensed clinical social worker who started seeing patients in late November; case coordinator Dolly Alejandro-Wilson; social services coordinator Lisa Pachero; and marketing outreach specialist Caleb Tapia. The Elko behavioral health wait time for appointments also has been trimmed, according to Looney.

She said the average wait time in Elko for a new behavioral health patient is 5.24 days. It was 14 days at the beginning of the grant period.

“We’re really proud of this wait time,” she told the council. The in-person Elko behavioral health appointments are available Mondays through Fridays with a licensed clinical social worker and Nevada Health Centers has implemented tele-psychiatry referral arrangements. “We accept all patients regardless of income level or ability to pay,” Looney said.

All the Nevada Health Centers in the state also have a new program that allows health providers to do a “warm hand-off” to behavioral health and this also can be done at the smaller locations, such as at West Wendover, she said. She also told the council the Nevada Health Center in Elko is trying to increase community awareness of the services available by attending events, reaching out to the Spring Creek Hope Squad and Elko County schools, being present at health fairs and being involved in other opportunities. Nevada Health Centers has 21 centers in the state.

Along with the Elko Family Medical and Dental Center in Elko, other centers in Elko County are in Carlin, Jackpot and West Wendover. Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly..