These kits include sanitary pads, wipes, breast pads, sanitizers and other essential items and resources.
For over 27 years, UnitedHealthcare Health Plan of Nevada Medicaid has been dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and improving access to health services in Nevada. With over 200,000 members in the state, our mission is deeply personal. In collaboration with local organizations, we aim to improve health outcomes by making health care accessible to everyone in our community.
Maternity Care
Social drivers of health (SDOH) are the conditions in which people live, learn, work, play, and worship that impact their quality of life and health outcomes. These factors are influenced even before birth, so ensuring new families have access to healthcare is pivotal. Addressing maternity care in Nevada is crucial, as 47.1% of counties are maternity care deserts [1]. We are helping expand access to prenatal and postnatal care, ensuring families have the best possible start.
We collaborated with Vegas Family Doulas to create the Medicaid Doula Program which has supported approximately a dozen women of color to pursue doula employment, promoting health equity and reducing preterm birth rates. Doula care, especially in communities of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), is associated with 22% lower odds of preterm birth [2].
To promote equitable access to care, we worked with the Nevada Statewide Maternal and Child Health Coalition to distribute New Mama Care Kits to new parents. These kits provide essentials, comfort and reduce stress, allowing parents to focus on their newborns. Each kit also includes information from over 30 community partners. In two years, we have supported the distribution of over 1,824 kits [3]. Through community collaborations, we are supporting health equity and making a lifetime of good health accessible.
Health Care Workforce
Improving health care access means supporting and training more healthcare workers. Nevada faces a shortage of mental health providers, with only one for every 420 residents, and 61% of adults with mental illness not receiving treatment [4].
To help address this shortage, we are collaborating with the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) to train and retain highly skilled medical professionals through their Psychiatry Residency and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship programs [5]. This initiative aims to support funding for graduate medical education spots, enhance programming, support retention, and help develop a new Addiction Medicine Fellowship. Nevada has one of the highest rates of non-medical drug use in the country and rising drug overdose deaths [6][7], but with the recent 33% increase in the number of mental health professionals [8], we are helping make accessing care easier.
Health Care in the Community
Care should be accessible, no matter where you live. In all 17 counties, there are not enough doctors for the population. [9]. Rural residents are especially affected, having to travel over twice the distance for care compared to those living in cities, often delaying treatment and leading to worsening health outcomes [10][11].
We are proud to partner with organizations committed to bringing care directly to the community, such as Hope Christian Health Center. With our support, they have been able to open their second Medical Outreach Clinic (MOC) in January 2025. With an additional mobile unit, they are able to expand their reach and provide essential healthcare services to more people in need. Collaborations like this foster community health and strengthen efforts to address provider shortages in the state, improving the well-being and quality of life for Nevada families.
Photo Credit: UnitedHealthcare Health Plan of Nevada Medicaid | On January 23, The Just One Project launched Nevada’s first Mobile Grocery Store which will offer healthy, low-cost groceries to Nevadans living in food deserts where access to fresh and nutritious produce is limited.
Food Security
While doctor visits are important, SDOH significantly impacts overall health. In Southern Nevada, approximately 12% of people, including 1 in 6 children, are living in households with limited access to healthy food [12]. To address this, we support programs providing fresh groceries and health care resources to underserved areas. Our collaboration with The Just One Project has distributed over 1.6 million meals and 664,400 pounds of food through mobile pantries and no-cost community markets. In January 2025, The Just One Project launched Nevada’s first Mobile Grocery Store, a bus-turned-grocer which travels to underserved communities and offers affordable groceries in areas where access to fresh whole foods is limited.
The Future is Bright
Through our collaboration with state, community and provider partners, we are honored to serve local communities and make a difference within the very communities we call home. We will continue to work with large and small organizations to address key opportunities to build healthier, stronger communities across our state. We are proud to be woven into the community fabric as we aim to help Nevadans live healthier lives, and a create a better, healthier Nevada for all.
Visit UnitedHealthcare Health Plan of Nevada Medicaid to learn more.
[1] https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/assets/s3/reports/mcd/Maternity-Care-Report-Nevada.pdf
[2] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5544530/
[4] https://mhanational.org/sites/default/files/2023-State-of-Mental-Health-in-America-Report.pdf
[7] https://www.kff.org/statedata/mental-health-and-substance-use-state-fact-sheets/nevada/
[8] https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/states/NV
[9] https://dpbh.nv.gov/Programs/HPSA/Health_Professional_Shortage_Area_Designations_-_Home/
[10] https://srhrc.tamu.edu/publications/travel-burdens-07.2021.pdf
[11] https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/transportation#travel-burdens