Hurting those who can least afford it

It's no surprise that the state is proposing leaving the rural counties behind in its budget triage.

They're looking at how to serve the most people with the least amount of money. The easy way to do that is fund the services in Nevada's largest cities.

However, the present proposal to eliminate all but one psychologist and more than half the rural clinics leaves those Nevadans who have the least access to mental health treatment out in the wilderness.

In Carson Valley, many of our residents in need of mental health counseling have access to Carson City or Reno. It's inconvenient, but nothing compared to those in Tonopah who would have to travel to Pahrump under the proposal.

As Carson Valley's chief chronicler, we're well aware of the incidents involving those who require the services of Douglas County Mental Health.

We know that those people who need the help most are often those who can afford it least. We know that helping them benefits us by making our community a safer place to live.

We understand that there isn't enough money to keep all the services we've had, but some way must be found to at least keep the pilot light lit until the crisis has passed.

Hopefully, county officials and local healthcare professionals can find a way to help keep some of the services subject to state cuts alive.