DHCFP Leadership

Ms. Bierman comes to the State of Nevada from The Guinn Center for Policy Priorities, where she served as the Director of Health Policy. Prior to her work with The Guinn Center in Las Vegas, Ms. Bierman served as Assistant Director, Division of Medical Services (Medicaid) for the Arkansas Department of Human Services. She earned her Juris Doctorate and Master’s of Public Health degrees from the University of Arkansas while working in dual roles as a Legislative Analyst and a Law Clerk for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Office of General Counsel. Ms. Bierman has completed both the Henry Toll Fellowship Program, Council of State Governments and the American Society on Aging’s Leadership Academy Program.

Ms. Phinney is a Nevada native, and has been in State service since 1998. Ms. Phinney has a Master’s in Public Health with a concentration in Health Services Administration; as well as a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations. Cody started with the mental health programs doing quality assurance. She has been an agency manager and managed the Federal Community Mental Health Services Block Grants. She has an extensive background working in health and human service programs, including program and division oversight at the executive level in Nevada State government. Cody has developed a strong background in program oversight, quality assurance and performance improvement.

DuAne has nearly 20 years of experience in the field of behavioral and public health working previously in the areas of criminal justice, community mental health, substance abuse, drunk driving prevention and education. He has worked previously in the public sector in Indiana for eight years beginning as a mental health evaluator within the county courts and leaving as Assistant Administrator for the Court Drug and Alcohol Program within State Court Administration. He worked in the private sector in various capacities including overseeing the project development and implementation strategy of the 2013 publication of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Criteria. Within the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), he has served within the Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH) as the Tobacco Program Coordinator, Director’s Office as the Health Policy Analyst and the DHCFP as the Chief of Behavioral Health and Pharmacy Services. He most recently served as Deputy Administrator of DPBH over Clinical Services overseeing a workforce of over 1,000 employees providing direct client services in both public and behavioral health systems. DuAne received his Bachelor’s in Science in Family Studies from Miami University and a Master’s in Management from Indiana Wesleyan University. He is also Bachelor of Science Degree status in the Organizational Leadership Doctoral Program at Indiana Wesleyan University. All his post graduate work has focused on leadership practices within varying healthcare settings.

Sandie Ruybalid has been with the DHCFP since 2002. She began her career with the State of Nevada in 1994 in Workers Compensation Insurance and has over 25 years of experience in the Healthcare Insurance industry, with a focus on Medicaid Management Information Systems (MMIS). She was appointed to her role as Chief IT Manager in 2019 and oversees the Division’s Health Information Technology and Electronic Health Record programs, Project Management Office, Business Process Management Unit, IT Operations, Information Security Officer, Application Development Team, in addition to the Division’s outsourced MMIS Vendors. She was the Project Director for the Division’s successful MMIS Modernization project which went live February 2019. She was appointed by Governor Brian Sandoval as a Management representative on the Employee-Management Committee and served as the Co-Vice Chair. She received her Certificate of Public Manager designation in April of 2016.