Luana J. Ritch, Ph.D., Bureau Chief

4150 Technology Way, Suite 200

Carson City, NV 89706

(775) 684-4242

Contact Information

Bureau Overview

The Bureau of Health Statistics, Planning and Emergency Response (HSPER), collects and analyzes data relative to the health status of Nevadans; responds to requests for technical assistance related to health planning and health resources; examines the availability, accessibility, cost, and quality of healthcare for use in State health policy development; advises the State Board of Health on Certificate of Authority applications and regulatory issues relating to Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs); reviews and processes Certificate of Need  (CON) inquiries and applications and advises the Department of Health & Human Services Director on CON decisions; operates the State Trauma Registry and the Sentinel Events Registry; operates the Nevada Central Cancer Registry; provides for the registration and permanent custodianship of birth and death records in the state, including all legal corrections and amendments; maintains databases on marriages, divorces, and abortions occurring within the state; and through its Office of Health Statistics and Surveillance collects, analyzes and warehouses data in order to produce and distribute statistical information for research and policy decision making for public and private agencies within the state and nationally.

Office of Health Statistics and Surveillance (Click Here) 

The goal of this Office is to make health data more timely, accurate and accessible, better meeting and needs of local, state, and national planning and research bodies.  This Office is still developing, will consist of over 40 health related databases with descriptions and standards for each variable or field included in the database.  Common elements between databases enable matching or linking of these databases in order to provide newly accessible and standardized information for analytical and programmatic purposes.  Extracted databases derived from each database and linked databases are available for statistical data analysis within the Health Division and also for the Washoe and Clark County Health Districts, as well as on the Internet for statewide and national access through the Center’s interactive web-based data system.

Emergency Medical Systems (EMS)  (Click Here) 

The mission of the Emergency Medical Systems Program is to promote and support a system that provides prompt, efficient and appropriate emergency medical care, ambulance transportation and trauma care to the people of Nevada.

Health Planning and Primary Care Office  (Click Here)

Health Planning performs the following:  reviews HMO applications for licensure or expanded service areas to determine quality, availability and accessibility to healthcare services, and monitors certain HMO activities on a routine basis; reviews and processes Certificate of Need applications from healthcare facilities and recommends approval or disapproval to the Director of the Department of Health & Human Services; and provides health data and technical assistance to public and private entities, statewide and nationally, and to the general public regarding healthcare resources, utilization data, demographic and health status information, health planning information, healthcare policy and Nevada’s status toward the Healthy People 2010 objectives of the federal government.

J-1/Conrad 30 Complaints  (Click Here)

This website allows you to anonymously send your complaints and/or comments directly to Administration, Nevada State Health Division.

Medical Marijuana Program  (Click Here) 

The mission of this program is to assist Nevadans diagnosed with a chronic or debilitating medical condition as defined in NRS 453A.050, and seeking a registry identification card for the medical use of marijuana.

Nevada Central Cancer Registry  (Click Here)

The Nevada Central Cancer Registry’s (also referred to as the Statewide Cancer Registry) mission is to register cases of invasive cancer and provide statistical data for use by epidemiologists, health researchers, and others in the medical and allied health professions. Information from the Registry is intended to identify cancer risk, evaluate cancer patient care, and characterize leading trends in cancer incidence, survival, and mortality among state residents.

The Registry is based on the reporting of cancer cases by licensed hospitals and pathology laboratories in Nevada. The Registry adheres to the quality standards and requirements of North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR). The Registry is funded, in part, by the NPCR.

Nevada Trauma Registry  (Click Here)

The Nevada State Trauma Registry was established in 1987 to collect data on persons who sustain an acute injury which has the potential of being fatal or producing a major disability.  The data are collected from all hospitals that are licensed to operate in the State of Nevada.  The data are analyzed and used to: measure the public health impact of traumatic injury, including facts related to injury events, severity of injury, and financial burden to the local and state healthcare delivery systems; monitor access to emergency care of patients within the “trauma system” for improved outcomes and use of resources; and identify prevention needs by age group, mechanism of injury, gender, and race/ethnicity. 

The primary users of the State Trauma Registry include participating hospitals, injury prevention groups, researchers, physicians, and program planners.  The Registry is linked with other databases through the Office of Health Statistics and Surveillance and also the CODES (Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System) Project with the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Trauma Institute.

Nevada Sentinel Events Registry  (Click Here)

The Nevada Sentinel Events Registry was established in July 2003 by Nevada Revised Statute 439.800-890, in response to the Institute of Medicine's report, To Err is Human.  The statute requires the reporting of Sentinel Events by hospitals, obstetric centers, ambulatory surgery centers and independent centers for emergency medical care.  The Nevada Hospital Association, in partnership with the Nevada State Health Division, developed regulations (NAC 439.900-920) and implemented this legislation.  Reporting by the medical facilities began January 1, 2005.

Assembly Bill 59 was passed during the 2005 73rd Session of the Legislature, and was effective October 1, 2005.  It amended the definition of sentinel event to include facility-acquired infection (also known as nosocomial infection), as well as adding the definition of facility-acquired infection to NRS 439.

A sentinel event is defined as an unexpected occurrence involving facility-acquired infection, death or serious physical or psychological injury or risk thereof, including, without limitation, any process variation for which a recurrence would carry a significant chance of a serious adverse outcome, including loss of limbs, or function.

The Bureau serves as a repository for health care quality assurance, collecting and compiling, and disseminating data, while ensuring that information is aggregated in reporting so as not to reveal the identity of a specific person or medical facility.