Las Vegas, Nev. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) today wrapped up the sixth day of her Virtual Nevada Tour 2020 with stops at Nye and Esmeralda counties. The Senator began her day by attending a virtual briefing to learn more about the Gemfield Resources Project, a new gold mining operation in Goldfield, Nevada. The briefing was followed by a virtual roundtable discussion hosted by Senator Cortez Masto with veterans from the Pahrump community on their telehealth experience with the VA during the pandemic and the challenges presented in delivering optimal care in rural communities. In addition, the Senator held meetings with Nye and Esmeralda county officials on a wide range of issues from COVID-19 to transportation.
“From Pahrump to Silver Peak and every city in between, I enjoyed the opportunity to hear directly from Nevadans in Nye and Esmeralda counties about the issues most important to them. Today’s conversations make it clear that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the lives of thousands of Nevadans across the state, especially working class families in rural communities. We see it in the increase in virtual health care visits for Veterans in the Pahrump community to the way businesses like Gemfield Resources are conducting their day-to-day work. I remain committed to working in Congress to bring much needed federal resources to communities like those in Nye and Esmeralda counties and across the Silver State.”
BACKGROUND:
This week, Senator Cortez Masto is participating in a virtual tour of all of Nevada’s 17 counties as part of her Virtual Nevada Tour 2020. Yesterday’s visit included stops at Churchill and Mineral counties.
The Gemfield Project will employ 200 workers during construction and 150 employees during the 12 year mine life. The mine is owned by Gemfield Resources, Ltd., a Nevada-based company.
The VA Pahrump Community Based Outpatient Clinic has 2,395 enrolled patients with 9,408 outpatient visits made in Fiscal Year 2020 as of August 18, 2020. Similar to the Primary Care Clinics, the Pahrump CBOC has a Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) with a primary care provider, nurse, social worker and administrative staff, telehealth, laboratory services, mental health and laboratory services. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the VA Southern Healthcare System (VASNHS) has prioritized transitioning available appointments for healthcare and mental health to virtual and telephone. More on today’s roundtable can be found here.
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