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Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital receives occupancy certificate for behavioral health unit; staffing and service roll‑out pending
Summary
Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital told the Elko County Board of Health it has received state approval and a certificate of occupancy for its behavioral health unit, but staff said the unit was not yet staffed and patient intake timing remained uncertain. Hospital leaders also described capital investments and measles preparedness.
Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital (NNRH) administrator Steve Simpson told the Elko County Board of Health that the hospital received a state letter approving the behavioral health unit (BHU) and a certificate of occupancy, but the unit was not yet accepting patients while staffing is finalized.
"I literally at 03:51 just got a letter from the state that has approved all things. And so now we have a certificate of occupancy," Simpson said. "I would like to say it's now open, but I don't know that we have staffing in there right now. So, but we will get that going just as soon as we possibly can. I would imagine it's gonna take us a minute, but by a minute, I think maybe by Monday, we'll have something there."
Simpson outlined recent and planned capital investments: the hospital contributed just under $4 million in capital improvements last year and has an additional $3.5 million approved for the current year. Planned upgrades include new x‑ray and MRI equipment expected later this year, point‑of‑care ultrasound for the emergency department, a facelift for the labor and delivery unit, sidewalk repairs and a full parking‑lot resurfacing project scheduled for next year.
He also said the hospital is remodeling space for an intensive outpatient program (IOP) to provide follow‑up care after BHU discharge and enable continuity with inpatient providers when appropriate.
On infectious disease preparedness, Simpson said there were no confirmed measles cases in Nevada at the time of his remarks but that the hospital has stepped up infection‑control measures. "Since the measles virus is highly contagious and can remain on surfaces or in the air for over two hours, our infection control team has been working diligently to guard against it," he said. The hospital distributed screening tools and viral media collection tubes to local clinics and participated in a statewide exercise with the Nevada Hospital Association.
Simpson also highlighted recent community outreach: the hospital offered free health screenings at a spring health fair attended by about 3,000 people, and 748 people used the hospital’s lab draw at that event. He said the hospital offered a month of free lab work and reported 1,099 community participants in its outreach activities.
Hospital leadership encouraged follow‑up with local primary‑care providers for screening results and distributed a community impact report describing the hospital’s annual contributions to the region.
Board members congratulated the hospital on the BHU approval and on preparedness work while noting staffing remains the next step before the unit can accept patients.
