Charitable organizations in Nevada are nervously watching to see how rising gas prices, a comatose housing market and the gloomy national economy will affect their donations and funding this year.

For Michael Rodolico, the situation already means choosing between a client who is in pain or one whose health is in peril.

"We have to assess whether someone needs immediate treatment or if they can wait," said Rodolico, executive director of Health Access of Washoe County. "If it's a case of someone whose tooth hurts or of a child with a swollen eye socket, we take care of the child with the swollen eye socket."

In addition to a drop in donations, Rodolico said government budget cuts have resulted in more uninsured patients seeking dental and medical treatment provided by the program on a sliding scale.

"Right now, we have about $1 million in debts owed to us by patients and insurance companies, so that's a very heavy burden," he said. About 80 percent of that $1 million is owed by the uninsured patients, whose bills already have been discounted.

Nevada's Primary Care Association's Executive Director selected by the Johnson & Johnson/UCLA Health Care Executive Program

Families and individuals who receive medical services from the members of Great Basin Primary Care Association will be the ultimate beneficiaries of specialized management training completed by the organization's Executive Director, Patricia Durbin, one of this year's 80 graduates of the Johnson & Johnson/UCLA Health Care Executive Program.  The intensive two-week program, conducted at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, is designed to enhance the management and leadership skills of community-based health care organization executives.  Johnson & Johnson, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and UCLA developed this competitive training in response to the need for community-based health care organizations to be better equipped to confront the mounting challenges in our nation's health care and the rising cost of providing medical services.

Left to right: Dr. Victor Tabbush, Faculty Director, Johnson & Johnson/UCLA Health Care Executive Program; Patricia Durbin, Executive Director, Great Basin Primary Care Association; Rebecca Spitzgo, Associate Administrator, Office of Performance Review, HRSA; and Rick Martinez, Medical Director, Medical Affairs and Corporate Contributions, Johnson & Johnson.