by Latoya Bembry, Vice President of Strategic Communications
Vance Farrow serves as the Healthcare Industry Specialist for the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development, where he supports efforts to recruit, retain and expand healthcare businesses and professionals across the state. Working closely with state and local leaders, regional development authorities and industry stakeholders, Vance helps strengthen Nevada’s healthcare workforce and infrastructure while identifying opportunities to support the sector’s continued growth. We sat down with Vance to talk about the future of healthcare in Nevada and the work being done to strengthen the state’s healthcare workforce and infrastructure.
Q: Tell us about your professional journey. What led you to a career in public service and, specifically, healthcare and economic development?
A: My career in public service began through my parents. They were both very involved in our community growing up, and my sister and I were always attending events and opportunities, which gave us early exposure to the value of strong relationships. Since my mother was a schoolteacher and my father was a dentist, they were very well known throughout the city, which meant we couldn’t get away with anything! We both naturally gravitated towards healthcare in our own way. She is a clinical psychologist, and I chose public health.
During my tenure as Bureau Chief in Washington, D.C. [Bureau of Cancer and Chronic Disease for the D.C. Department of Health], I saw the immediate, tangible impact of local community investment, which always made me proud. Whether working on strengthening community relationships, policy changes, or program design and implementation, each endeavor led to lasting impact and positive health outcomes.
When the opportunity arose to relocate to Nevada, I saw it as a blank canvas, and I was literally told that I could ‘paint my own Picasso.’ Nevada is a unique state with very specific needs across its frontier, rural, and urban landscapes. There is never a dull moment, and you can always find plenty of stakeholders ready and willing to work together to address our most pressing healthcare issues. It has been over 13 years since I made the decision to relocate, and I haven’t second-guessed the decision for a moment. We are only limited by our imaginations, or the lack thereof, and I have plenty of things left on my ‘to-do’ list.
Q: How does GOED support the recruitment, retention, and expansion of healthcare professionals and businesses in Nevada?
A: GOED plays a central role in strengthening the state’s healthcare workforce and industry by aligning economic development with workforce and education strategies. Through initiatives like Workforce Innovations for a New Nevada (WINN), GOED invests in employer-driven training programs that help healthcare organizations recruit and retain qualified professionals. By partnering with universities, community colleges, and private training providers, GOED supports the development of healthcare career pathways that prepare Nevadans for high-demand clinical, technical, and administrative roles. These efforts increase the likelihood that healthcare professionals are trained locally and remain in Nevada, addressing workforce shortages while supporting long-term economic growth.
Beyond workforce development, GOED supports the expansion and attraction of healthcare businesses by promoting innovation, infrastructure investment, and a business-friendly environment. The office recruits healthcare companies, research institutions, and service providers and assists existing organizations with expansion, regulatory navigation, and access to state resources. By encouraging healthcare innovation, including telehealth and rural service delivery, and aligning policy priorities with industry needs, GOED helps create a stable ecosystem where healthcare providers and businesses can grow. Together, these efforts enhance access to care, create jobs, and position Nevada as an increasingly competitive state for healthcare professionals and healthcare-related enterprises.
Q: What are the biggest opportunities you see for growth in Nevada’s healthcare infrastructure over the next few years?
A: Over the past several years, GOED has co-sponsored and led a southern Nevada delegation to the Biotech Innovation Organization International. To date, our delegation has engaged with well over 500 bioscience companies worldwide, eager to learn more about the region, our growing bioscience ecosystem, workforce pipelines, and available space for expansion. Nevada is becoming a fabulous destination for medical innovation, and it feels great to keep spreading the message.
As a direct result of our BIO delegation, GOED hosted a full-house event with representatives from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We were fortunate to have executive leadership from the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the Office of Small Business Support for Innovative Technology. The presenters also shared insights on leveraging resources from the different institutes within NIH.
The half-day program included more than a dozen one-on-one meetings with Nevada companies and researchers, with additional meetings scheduled throughout the week. Valuable ecosystem takeaways included incorporating “best practices” from other communities; emphasizing consistency, workforce development, internship opportunities, tech transfer programs; leveraging conventions for economic development; participating in NIH ecosystem calls; engaging with Congressional representatives; grant writing; and continued collaboration with NIH offices. We are optimistic about this opportunity and will continue to work with the NIH for mentorship and additional resources to grow our biosciences sector.
Q: How is GOED helping address healthcare workforce shortages?
A: GOED is helping address healthcare workforce shortages in part by supporting the expansion of medical residency programs through the state’s Graduate Medical Education (GME) New and Expanded Program Grants. These competitive grants, awarded across multiple rounds to hospitals and medical schools throughout Nevada, fund the creation and expansion of residency and fellowship training slots in primary care and key specialties, expanding opportunities for medical school graduates to complete the necessary clinical training in the state rather than leave for training elsewhere. By increasing the number of in-state residency positions, Nevada improves the likelihood that newly trained physicians will remain in the state to practice long-term, directly strengthening the physician workforce in underserved areas and high-need specialties.
In addition to residency expansion, Nevada has secured historic federal support through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which Governor Joe Lombardo announced in December 2025, after the state was awarded significant funding for rural health improvements. This program, part of a five-year, $50 billion federal initiative, includes a Workforce Recruitment and Rural Access Program component designed to attract and retain healthcare professionals in rural communities, provide incentives for living and serving in those areas, and lay the groundwork for new rural physician residency programs to strengthen the long-term workforce pipeline in frontier regions of the state. Beyond workforce recruitment, the rural transformation funding supports critical infrastructure, telehealth innovation, and value-based care models that make rural practice more sustainable and appealing for healthcare providers.
Q: What motivates you most about the work you do? Is there a professional accomplishment you’re particularly proud of?
A: I love how achievements in our healthcare economic development ecosystem can be tracked from a specific pain point or innovative idea, leading to the gathering of like-minded community stakeholders. That’s where the fun starts, and focused meetings take place, leading to planning and intervention steps that continue through fruition. One example I will highlight was the development of two new allopathic medical schools in southern Nevada on the campuses of UNLV and Roseman University of Health Sciences.
Another great example was the development of the CSN Nursing Education Pilot Program, which began educating and credentialing practicing clinical nurses who lacked teaching credentials to serve as adjunct faculty for nursing students at CSN. This effort was created to reduce the bottleneck in nursing student enrollment by expanding the number of nursing educators at CSN. There have been several cohorts, yielding more than 100 graduates. Additional resources, including virtual reality content, will expand this initiative across NSHE and make programs more widely available to Nevadans.
Q: What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you? How do you unwind outside of work?
A: So, this may come as a bit of a surprise, but I have been a DJ ever since I was twelve years old. Growing up in Detroit, I was surrounded by music, and it always gave me pleasure. As I got better, I hosted my own house music radio show throughout college and have had the pleasure of DJ’ing for audiences around the world. It is something that I will always love to do, and I have built a studio in my home so I can always perform a set whenever I feel the need to be creative. We should all be as fortunate to find something that can bring us such joy, even if you can only do it from time to time.
