Deep in the heart of our state capital, 11 year old student Lili is getting a very important health exam. An assistant hooks her up with cable to a computer system on a mobile cart. On the computer screen is the face of Dr. Chris David Partridge, a physician’s assistant who’s speaking to her from Elko. An assistant begins the session: "When you're ready Chris I've got the host session." That’s when Dr. Chris takes over: "OK, Cross your arms for me Lili, take deep breaths from your mouth."

It’s a full checkup, and even though he’s based hundreds of miles away, this doctor has patients at Carson City's non-profit Nevada Health Center, which does 200 appointments a month this way. Dr. Partridge told me, "You can do a cardiac exam, listen to the heart and listen to the lungs. I can do a skin examination, dermatology, I can do orthopedic examinations..."

The system with Nevada Health Center connects with 7 rural locations electronically. Nevada towns like Austin, Carlin, Elko, Jackpot, West Wendover, Amargosa, and Virginia City…that don't have adequate medical facilities or doctors. The non-profit’s Corie Nieto tells me, "48th in the nation we are, the State of Nevada."

It's not a ranking to be proud of. Our state sits near the bottom when it comes to having enough doctors per capita. There's an urgent call for what's called "Telehealth": Nevada's alarming shortage of doctors and nurses. Corie adds, "Take the 48th in the nation and add the geographical isolation of our rural communities, then it is even worse."

A 2018 University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine report says we rank 48th per capita in primary care physicians and 49th in surgeons. The number of physicians practicing full-time in the state grew 1.7% when adjusted for population growth from 2005 to 2015. It’s not enough. Current doctors are nearing retirement, and not enough are moving in to replace them. Nevada is projected to have the fewest physicians per capita in 2022, especially in the rurals. As Dr. Partridge explains, "All the doctors that come out of school, if they want to practice in a city they're going to go to Reno or they're going to go to Las Vegas. They're not going to go to Elko or Amargosa."

Some towns already go without any doctors: "Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays, there's no provider in Jackpot."

The machines fill the gap. Each one costs $11,000. A $987,745 grant from the USDA paid for several of these, already installed in rural Nevada. Dr. Partridge says they're catching on all over: "Wendover, they've used tele-medicine a whole bunch. We're starting to see it pick up more in Vegas."

After close to an hour, Lili's session is done. Dr. Partridge reports: “Lili got a head, eye, ear, nose, throat exam, and heart and lungs. It’s a basic full-body exam." She just needs something for her ear. "We're going to treat that with a little topical steroid, OK?"

Achieving one simple goal: for all Nevadans to get the help they need…wherever they live.

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