Gardnerville hospital changes name to Carson Valley Health

The hospital formerly known as Carson Valley Medical Center will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a new name, Carson Valley Health.

“We are thrilled to announce the new name to our community, after so much thoughtful deliberation,” said Chief Operating Officer Shannon Albert. “The full transition from Carson Valley Medical Center to Carson Valley Health will take some time, and we anticipate it could be into 2024 before everything matches the new name and design.”

The hospital has been working on a $55 million expansion since ground broke in fall 2021.

“In my five years at Carson Valley Health the changes I’ve seen have been around the care delivery, increase in number of providers and specialties we provide, as well as the expansion project which will add 55,000 square feet to the hospital,” said Chief Executive Officer Jeff Prater. “Changing the name to Carson Valley Health represents the 30 years of changes and growth that we’ve been part of in our community and surrounding regions,” said Chief Executive Officer Jeff Prater.

The center opened in December 1993 as a Barton facility offering urgent care and a physicians clinic.

In 1995 the surgery department was added, and the urgent care became a 24/7 emergency department. CareFlight joined the CVMC campus in 2000, the same year Renown joined in partnership with Barton.

In 2004 it became a critical access hospital, initially opening with 15 beds. An ICU was added, and the hospital expanded to 23 beds, which it still has today.

Since the hospital opened, Carson Valley Health has added two rural health clinics with walk-in appointments and sliding scale fee structure so patients can always access healthcare. Additionally, there is a specialty clinic, senior care clinic, and a primary care clinic. Stretching from Minden to the north, and Topaz Ranch to south, CVH offers services to patients from Fernley and Fallon to Bishop, Calif.

In 2022, Carson Valley Health gave $562,000 of no-cost community benefits, including flu shots, health fairs, youth sports physicals, support groups and more. This number does not include the millions of dollars in charity care and unreimbursed Medicare expenses. CVH employees volunteered 1,700 hours in our community, and the organization sponsors many groups, schools and sports teams throughout the community.