Nye County seeks county health officer for two-year term

Nye County is looking for its next county health officer, a two-year post that carries oversight of public-health coordination, clinic direction and communicable-disease control across a county that stretches from Pahrump to Tonopah, Beatty, Round Mountain and Gabbs. The job pays $2,500 a month and will run from Jan. 1, 2027, through Jan. 1, 2029.

The county is asking qualified applicants to submit a letter of intent and a resume to Lorina Dellinger, the assistant county manager and interim health officer, at P.O. Box 153, 101 Radar Road, Tonopah, NV 89049. The deadline is Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, at 5 p.m. Pacific time.

Under Nevada law, the Nye County Board of County Commissioners appoints the health officer on or before Jan. 1 after each general election. State law says the board is to consider graduate education in public health, training, experience and interest in public health and related programs, and the term lasts two years or until a successor is appointed and qualified.

The county’s posting says the health officer chairs Nye County Board of Health meetings and helps plan, organize, direct, coordinate and administer public-health programs for the county. The position also includes developing and interpreting administrative policies for public-health functions, coordinating county programs with state and federal agencies, and providing direction for clinics and communicable-disease control.

That makes the hiring decision more than an administrative vacancy. In a county of 51,591 residents, spread across a wide rural geography, the health officer can shape how fast guidance reaches clinics, how county programs are organized and how the county responds when disease, staffing shortages or other public-health issues cut across multiple communities at once.

The appointment will fall to commissioners, who are choosing a leader for a term that begins after the 2026 general-election cycle and could set the county’s public-health direction through the start of 2029. With Lorina Dellinger listed as interim health officer, Nye County is filling a role that sits at the center of board meetings, agency coordination and the day-to-day structure of public-health services.