Team NCC Travels Nevada's Northern Route

Three members of NCC’s team headed out to communities in northern Nevada in March to connect with partners, share resources, and learn more about barriers that people living in rural communities face regarding healthcare. They also spent a day at the annual Elko Health and Fitness Fair—an event NCC loves to attend.

The trio—Prevention and Early Detection Programs Manager Lily Helzer, Outreach Coordinator Valerie Martinez, and Community Engagement Manager Sarah Grocki—returned to Reno energized and with a lot to share.

Martinez said transportation was the number one barrier she heard about from those she spoke to.

“Getting care in the rural area is a challenge for everyone,” Martinez said. “Appointments are sometimes scheduled far in advance. For cancer treatment, people need to drive to Utah or Reno.”

One school principal told Helzer, “If you are really sick, you just keep on going,” pointing to how far away healthcare is.

Martinez found that people she met in the rural communities were quick to look out for their neighbors and help one another, but Helzer said collaboration among community and healthcare organizations is key.

“Collaboration is where it’s at,” Helzer said. “William Bee Ririe Hospital [in Ely] is doing amazing work. They collaborate with everyone!”

NCC is founded on the idea that collaboration improves healthcare and cancer control and can speed policy, systems and environmental changes that can help to reduce the burden of cancer.

Two of the projects NCC’s team focused on during the trip was the HPV Cancer Free NV campaign, which aims to increase HPV vaccine initiation and completion among youth ages 9-13, and lung cancer screening program development. The team visited dental offices in Battle Mountain, Spring Creek, Elko, Ely, and other rural communities to share information and resources on HPV.

In those same communities, they met with healthcare providers to share the Nevada Lung Screening Toolkit, a comprehensive guide to developing a lung cancer screening program. The toolkit results from months of work by the Lung Cancer Collaborative and provides the requirements for a lung screening program, steps to development, and resources, including billing codes.

A similar rural road trip will take place in April in communities across southern Nevada. If you’re interested in collaborating with NCC, let us know. You can also download the HPV provider toolkits or Lung Screening Toolkit from our provider resources directory.