Friday, Aug. 14, 2015 | 12:22 a.m.
A longtime state employee has been appointed to lead the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health, officials from the Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday.
Cody Phinney was named the new administrator on Tuesday. She most recently served as the clinical program manager for Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, a psychiatric hospital and community-based mental health clinic operated by the Division of Public and Behavioral Health.
Phinney will start as administrator on Aug. 24, taking over from Marta Jensen, who has been serving as acting administrator. In June, Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed the former administrator, Richard Whitley, to be the director of the Department of Health and Human Services.
"I have dedicated my career to serving the health of Nevadans," Phinney said in a statement. "I started my career with training in population health, then spent 15 years in direct service agencies working with Nevadans who have mental illness. I am so excited to be in this role that will allow me to put those two pieces together."
Phinney, a Nevada native, lives with her family in Reno. She graduated from the University of California, Davis, with a bachelor's degree in international relations and a minor in community nutrition in 1994. Four years later, she earned a master's of public health from San Diego State University.
She started her career with the state as a quality assurance specialist with the then-Nevada Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services.
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