Get Healthy: New Health Department director is settling in

This column appears in the Nevada Appeal Wednesday health pages. It addresses topics related to the health of our community.

The Carson City Health and Human Services family would like to extend a warm welcome to new director Nicki Aaker. Aaker was appointed to fill the spot left open when Marena Works accepted the deputy city manager position at City Hall.

The new director continues the trend of having a nurse fill the position. A graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, Aaker holds a master’s degree in nursing and is nationally accredited as a public-health clinical nurse specialist and as a nurse executive. She also holds a master’s degree in public health.

Aaker is not brand-new to the Health Department. She came in January from Sierra Surgery Hospital, where she had been the assistant chief nursing officer. Since arriving at CCHHS, she has served both as the lead for the popular school vaccine program and as the assistant accreditation coordinator, helping to lead the department’s efforts to pursue public-health accreditation.

Aaker, who’s from Wyoming, has lived in Carson City with her family since 1994. She loves the area and appreciates all the amenities it has to offer. She likes the small town-feel, the weather and all the great people. She also recognizes all the great outdoor opportunities, such as biking and walking trails, and looks forward to leveraging some of these strengths to make Carson City an even healthier place to live.

Aaker says she is looking forward to serving in this new capacity and excited by the challenges and opportunities facing the staff of CCHHS. She’s still settling into her new position, but some priorities are already clear. She wants to maintain a strong focus on pursuing accreditation for the Health Department, and continue building and nurturing partnerships with other agencies and organizations to strengthen and improve the services that CCHHS provides in Carson City and the surrounding area.

Carson City Health and Human Services is excited to see what the future holds, and is happy to welcome Aaker to the directorship.

For more information about other Health Department services, check out www.gethealthycarsoncity.org or visit us at www.facebook.com/cchhs.