PAHRUMP, NV – (January 22, 2025) – To kick off National Maternal Health Awareness Day on Jan. 23, SilverSummit Healthplan, Nevada Health Centers, High Risk Pregnancy Center and Hera Women’s Health are announcing the launch of a program aimed at improving access to maternal and prenatal care for high-risk pregnancies in the city of Pahrump, in Nye County. The program expects to start seeing patients in late 2025.
Named the Medical Maternity Home Program, this collaborative effort will involve coordinated patient care and outreach, while leveraging maternal-fetal medicine; obstetrician-gynecologists; advanced practitioners; behavioral health providers; community health workers; Women, Infants, and Children services; and telehealth services to reach affected pregnant women in Nye County.
“We are grateful for SilverSummit’s vision, support, and partnership as we prepare to launch this program in Pahrump,” said Nevada Health Centers CEO Walter Davis. “Right now, women who are expecting must travel long distances to get prenatal care. This can be expensive and time consuming, and by offering OB services locally, in tandem with primary care and other wrap-around care, we keep people in their communities, getting the care they need and deserve.”
Pahrump has approximately 49,000 residents, including 8,000 women of reproductive age (15 to 50 years old). Access to comprehensive prenatal and postnatal care is severely limited, with the nearest facilities more than 60 miles away, creating significant barriers to timely and consistent care. *Key statistics include:
- In 2023, Pahrump recorded 344 live births with a preterm birth rate of 13.4% (national average: 10.4%), scoring an F on the March of Dimes Preterm Birth report card.
- The infant mortality rate is 8.22%, compared to the national average of 5.8%.
- Nye County is classified as a maternity care desert with limited access to care.
“Nye County is a maternity care desert, meaning that there are an insufficient number of maternity care providers,” said Dr. Steven Evans, chief medical officer for SilverSummit Healthplan. “This scarcity in maternity providers results in pregnant women needing to travel long distances to receive prenatal and postpartum care, which contributes to poor birth outcomes such as pre-term birth and low birth weight.”
“Our goal with the Medical Maternity Home Program is to bring together a multidisciplinary team of specialists to ensure every mother and baby in rural Nevada has access to the high-quality care they deserve,” said Dr. Brian Iriye, president of Hera Women’s Health. “By fostering partnerships and utilizing innovative solutions, we aim to overcome the challenges faced by underserved communities and improve maternal and neonatal outcomes across the region.”
The Medical Maternity Health Program will:
- Provide prenatal care and monitor pre-term birth rates.
- Implement evidence-based protocols to enhance quality and ensure proper maternal-fetal medicine referrals by following national guidelines and protocols. It will also utilize, SilverSummit Healthplan’s Project Guardian, which tackles the provider shortage by enabling remote health monitoring statewide. Using a cloud-based system, healthcare providers can track patient health via a synced app. If an issue arises, a nurse is alerted to coordinate care. This initiative integrates technology to enhance patient accessibility and care.
- Provide on-site consistent maternal care and obstetrical services at least two days a month.
- Provide maternal-fetal medicine consultation (in-person and or via telemedicine), high level fetal ultrasound, behavioral health (telemedicine), and treatment for opioid use disorder (telemedicine).
- Provide professional education (obstetrical emergencies) to family practice physicians and clinical support staff.
Nevada Health Centers will utilize its existing office space in Pahrump and provide complex case management delivered by registered nurses to at-risk women. The High Risk Pregnancy Center and Hera Women’s Health will provide various prenatal services, including ultrasounds, genetic counseling, behavioral health as appropriate by provider level, and delivery services. Funding for the Medical Maternity Health Program will be provided by the Centene Foundation, which will allocate $1 million over three years; an additional $100,000 will be provided by SilverSummit Healthplan.
For more information on the Medical Maternity Health Program, please contact 702.563.4600.
*Data sourced from United States Census Bureau; March of Dimes; American College of Physicians, Annuals of Internal Medicine 2020: Volume 172; Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
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About SilverSummit Healthplan
SilverSummit Healthplan (SilverSummit) is a managed care plan that provides health insurance to the people of Nevada. Established in 2017, SilverSummit exists to improve the health of its members through focused, compassionate and coordinated care. SilverSummit is a Centene Corporation company. For more information, visit www.silversummithealthplan.com.
About Centene Foundation
Centene believes that successful corporate citizenship is defined by investments in community-based institutions and organizations that address the needs of communities while advancing initiatives that focus on inclusion, the whole person, and community development.
Since 2004, the Centene Charitable Foundation has sought to make a difference in the communities we serve by investing in innovative programs and services that embrace all populations regardless of ability, age, race or economic status. Centene believes in treating the whole person, not just the physical body. That belief inspires us to support community partners that bring the arts, education, and health and social services to every population regardless of barriers that may exist.
About Nevada Health Centers
Established in 1977, Nevada Health Centers (NVHC) is a non-profit, Federally Qualified Health Center program dedicated to providing access to quality healthcare throughout Nevada. NVHC operates 20 health centers; five mobile programs, including the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, Mammovan, Nevada Children’s Health Project, Mobile Medical Services, and Mobile Dental Services; and seven Women, Infants, and Children offices in southern Nevada. Our core services include family medicine, dentistry, behavioral health, and pharmacy, and we accept Medicaid, Medicare, Nevada Check Up, and most private insurances. We also offer a sliding-fee discount program based on family size and income. For more information, visit www.nvhealthcenters.org.
About High Risk Pregnancy Center
At the High Risk Pregnancy Center in Nevada, we are devoted to protecting the health of mothers-to-be and their unborn babies. As obstetric subspecialists, our highly trained and experienced maternal fetal medicine (MFM) doctors offer the most advanced testing and treatment options available for reducing pregnancy risks. In fact, our team has been on the leading edge of MFM (also known as perinatology) for more than two decades. Since then, we’ve introduced many new capabilities in Nevada and have made a substantial contribution to the modern standard of MFM care. Today, we still lead the way in technology, procedures, and commitment to the women in our care and their unborn babies. Learn more about the High Risk Pregnancy Center.
