Tonopah recently received a new hospice program and is on track to get its first home health services.
Rachael Buck, a registered nurse and administrator with Nevada Visiting Nurses Network, said that Nevada Hospice Care is currently providing services in Tonopah, Goldfield, and the surrounding areas while Nevada Visiting Nurses Network is waiting to get its license to provide services in the Tonopah area.
Buck said Nevada Hospice Care was founded by two long-time Nevada residents who wanted “to provide a better standard of healthcare wherever they see a need.” After they started in Las Vegas with a memory care unit, they opened a home-based hospice program.
“Their primary focus is to provide healthcare to rural and frontier areas of Nevada,” Buck said in an email. “I joined them to help establish what was needed and develop plans to provide it. We are starting with home health because it’s a great way to bridge the gap between hospital and home. Bringing nurses straight to the patient allows them to remain in their community longer and more safely.”
Home health care includes medical care provided within the home. It allows medical professionals such as nurses, therapists, and certified aides to visit a patient at his or her residence when a patient is too sick to leave home.
Buck is a registered nurse affiliated with Nevada Visiting Nurses Network, a Las Vegas-based organization that staffs the area’s team of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, physical and occupational therapists, medical assistants and registered dietitians, according to its website.
She was born and raised in rural Connecticut and said that it is her second time living in Nevada.
“The first time I came here for school but moved back to Connecticut to finish my degrees. This time I’ve been here for about four years. I was offered a great job opportunity and I jumped at the chance to come back. Working in rural and frontier Nevada is exciting and fulfilling. I love it here best. Nevada really has my heart.”