CHI’ers enjoyed a well-deserved long Labor Day weekend after launching the 2015 Colorado Health Access Survey last week.
Many staff members took advantage of living in beautiful Colorado. They ran over mountain passes near Telluride, camped outside of Crested Butte, rented a house with friends in Granby, and climbed two 14’ers – Blanca Peak and Crestone Peak – in three days. The less ambitious “stay-cationed” with red wine and naps.
Others took the opportunity to travel out of state, heading to New York to see Taye Diggs in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” on Broadway, to Charleston, South Carolina, with college buddies, and to Florida’s beaches.
Now that we’re all back in the office, we’re focused on a new list of to-do items, including post-CHAS publications and presentations.
Jeff Bontrager, Director of Research on Coverage and Access, and Natalie Triedman, Policy Analyst, will be making the trek to Colorado State University in Fort Collins on Thursday. They have been invited by Sen. John Kefalas to present findings from the 2015 CHAS to a public policy class he is teaching.
Their talk is the first of many presentations on the survey that will take place across the state in the coming weeks.
CHI’s annual publication, Reaching Our Peak: A Scorecard for a Healthier Colorado, is off to print and will be published next Wednesday, September 16. It rates Colorado on its efforts to improve health with a focus on communities, schools, workplaces, the aging population, and health care. Stay tuned to see if Colorado has reached its peak, or not, in these areas over the past year.
A healthy portion of our staff is prepping for the Public Health in the Rockies conference coming up next week in Vail. CHI staff members will present on topics ranging from childhood obesity to legislative action on health bills this year, including Long Acting and Reversible Contraception (LARC). We will provide a full preview of CHI’s presenters and their topics next week before they are off to the mountains.
While the 2015 CHAS launch has passed and the new numbers are out, don’t forget that CHI staff are happy to answer any data questions and information request regarding the survey. Send questions to CHAS@coloradohealthinstitute.org.
Finally, save the date for Hot Issues in Health Care on Monday, December 14, at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center. The now annual event will be an opportunity for important conversations and networking among Colorado’s leaders in health policy. See you there!