Helping you determine medical urgency

Health Hotline is the place to turn when you have a medical question. Do you need to go to the emergency room? Should you go to an urgent care center or can you wait to see your doctor?

Health Hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by registered nurses with special training to answer your questions. They use medical guidelines approved by physicians to help you determine the appropriate level of care for your condition.

If you are experiencing a medical emergency, dial 911. Call Health Hotline when:

• You are not sure if you need medical care from your doctor
• You are not sure if you should go to the emergency room
• You have questions about how to care for a minor injury or illness at home

A nurse will ask you a series of questions to identify the problem and then recommend the appropriate level of care. This could mean a trip to the emergency room, calling your physician during office hours or simply treatment at home. The nurse will even send information to your family member's physician about your call and the recommendation.

Health Hotline also has an audio health information library offering information on more than 1,000 specific topics. Selected audio topics are available in Spanish.

To access this information, call Health Hotline at 775-982-5757 and follow the recorded instruction to reach the audio health information library. Then, dial the four-digit code for the topic that interests you. View or print the complete listing of available topics .

If you are hearing impaired, dial the TDD number, 775-982-5703 or toll free 888-372-0758.