A 13-year-old Nevada student’s firsthand experience with the toll of school bullying helped galvanize a major new investment in children’s behavioral health care across the state.
Hanna Aschenaki, who has advocated for bullying awareness and helped organize an antibullying conference in her community, was among those on hand this week when the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced a $20 million commitment to Intermountain Health. The pledge, described as one of the largest philanthropic investments of its kind in Nevada history, is directed at expanding pediatric behavioral health specialty services throughout the region.
The funding will support a continuum of youth care that includes community-based resources, an intensive outpatient program, a partial hospitalization program, and full outpatient behavioral health clinics. Academic fellowships, residency programs, and clinical training initiatives will also be funded, with the explicit goal of recruiting and retaining pediatric behavioral health providers in Southern Nevada, a region where mental health providers per capita lag behind the state average and where all 17 Nevada counties are designated as federal health professional shortage areas.
Officials emphasized that the investment is designed to reduce pressure on emergency departments, which have become a default entry point for families in crisis due to the lack of community-based alternatives. The broader goal is to promote equitable mental health outcomes across the state, with organizers stressing that geography and ZIP code should not dictate a child’s access to care.
The announcement comes on the heels of sobering local data. According to the 2023 Nevada High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Clark County Special Report, produced by the University of Nevada, Reno School of Public Health in partnership with the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health, 43% of Clark County high school students reported feeling sad or hopeless for two or more consecutive weeks, roughly 21% said they had considered suicide, and approximately 19% reported planning an attempt. These figures have long contributed to Nevada’s poor youth mental health rankings nationally.
The Helmsley commitment also advances a broader campaign to build Nevada’s first standalone children’s hospital, slated to open in 2030 at UNLV’s Harry Reid Research and Technology Park. The facility, projected at approximately 200 beds, is part of a $1 billion-plus development effort that has raised roughly $60 million to date, including a $1 million gift from entertainer Bruno Mars through the Nevada Campaign for the Kids.