Northern Nevada Public Health outlines budget savings, service metrics and solvency concerns
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Summary
District Health Officer Dr. Chad Kingsley updated Sparks council on public-health activities including $1.5M in budget savings from vacancies, a $2M state funding appropriation in the governor's budget for FY27–28, increased respiratory and whooping-cough activity in 2025, and an insolvency warning for next year.
Dr. Chad Kingsley, District Health Officer for Northern Nevada Public Health, gave a six-month update to the Sparks City Council on Feb. 9 covering program performance, disease surveillance and budget pressures.
Kingsley said the agency saved roughly $1.5 million in the prior year by managing vacancies and using informatics to reduce workload (he said informatics saved the equivalent of three full-time positions). He also said public-health staff successfully secured $2,000,000 in the governor’s budget for fiscal year 2027–28 through lobbying and noted that this was the first time the agency had been included in the governor’s budget in his recollection. Kingsley said the department’s annual budget is about $39 million and that roughly 86% of that budget is for staff costs; he told council the $1.5 million in savings represented approximately 12 positions overall.
On disease surveillance, Kingsley cited a notable spike in whooping cough in 2025 (he said prior averages were about 8 cases but 2025 exceeded 40) and mentioned a single recent measles case that was contained. He reported on other public-health activities including PFAS water-testing grant work, mosquito surveillance with more than 600 pools tested, immunizations (more than 12,000 doses and 5,200 individuals served in one program), and a new public-health clinic building expected to open near West Hills by the end of the month.
Kingsley also warned the council that the public-health agency faces insolvency next year if funding gaps are not addressed; he said the board will hold a retreat to set priorities and that tuberculosis funding had been reduced to about 50% of prior levels. Council members asked for more detail on vacancy savings and suicide-prevention resources; Kingsley said some prevention programming is on the agency’s general fund and offered to arrange a more detailed presentation on suicide prevention (he cited Joe Dibble as a program contact).
The presentation did not produce a council vote; members thanked Kingsley for the update and asked staff to return with any necessary follow-up information.
