AccessHealth is a program managed by Great Basin Primary Care Association, a non-profit 501(c)(3) community based organization.   AccessHealth is an outgrowth of the Clark County Health Access Consortium.  The Clark County Health Access Consortium upon review of a needs assessment of Clark County came to a consensus that the uninsured/underserved population did not have access to a coordinated, effective, and efficient health care delivery system for this population. AccessHealth was created out of this perceived and real need.

Update - Fall 2007

Today, the AccessHealth Program is expanding to Phase 2 from the successful pilot project located and serving qualified uninsured citizens in the Southern part of our state.  This expansion of AccessHealth to a full program serving up to 12,000 working uninsured residents in Las Vegas and the Clark County area by 2009.  The program links the uninsured with a network of generous health care providers who offer significantly reduced fees for these uninsured members of the program who are having to pay "out of pocket" for their care. 

The goal of AccessHealth is to coordinate application assistance in public programs and AccessHealth membership. Members are assigned to a medical home and specialty referrals that make a broader range of reduced health care services available. This frees up health care providers and their staff and gives them more time to spend on patient care.

AccessHealth, as it is currently funded will potentially serve over 12,000 individuals in 2007-2009 and when fully expanded target up to 20,000+ uninsured individuals in Clark County alone.  This program is about finding organizations, individuals and health care providers who speak that common language of supporting a primary care model for the uninsured.  Nevada ranks 47^th in the nation behind Texas, New Mexico and Okalahoma in uninsured [17.4% of Nevadans are uninsured] according to a report released by the Great Basin Primary Care Association in 2006.  As the cost for employers to provide health insurance rises, the working families and individuals are the fastest growing population in the uninsured statistics. 

Why did we start in Clark County? The 2006 Great Basin Primary Care Association assessment revealed that of Nevada's 449,749 uninsured residents, 327,194 of live in Clark County.  That is 72.8% of the state's uninsured.  Although Clark County takes up only 7% of the state’s 109,826 square miles, it is home to 70% of Nevada’s residents [US  Census bureau].  Great Basin Primary Care Association is dedicated to all uninsured Nevadans have access to such a program in the coming future.

Funding Partners

AccessHealth is currently supported with grant funding from Clark County, Fund for a Healthy Nevada, Nevada State Legislature, Nevada Health Division and community donations.  Community organizations that donated start up funding to launch this program are: St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, North Vista Hospital, University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, Great Basin Primary Care Association, Nevada Health Centers, Inc. and the Conrad Hilton Foundation.