Our usually bustling offices seem like a ghost town today. A large chunk of the Colorado Health Institute staff is out on the road, dispersed as far northwest as Craig and as far southeast as New Orleans.
The National Network of Public Health Institutes is holding its annual conference in the Big Easy this week, and CHI is sending President Michele Lueck, Vice President Deb Goeken, Director of Community Health Policy Sara Schmitt and Public Interest Fellow Maggie Bailey. They will make presentations on Colorado’s marijuana laws, the state’s program to fund long-acting birth control, and other topics.
The Regional Health Connectors (RHCs) roadshow continues this week. The RHCs are set up through Colorado’s State Innovation Model to connect doctors’ offices to health resources in the broader community. Ashlie Brown, Paige Backlund Jarquín and Rebecca Rapport will trade off making presentations in Glenwood Springs, Craig, Salida and Durango today through Thursday. Click here to see the schedule.
Back in Denver, other CHIers will be out and about. Policy Analyst Emily Johnson is presenting data from the Colorado Health Access Survey (CHAS) on Wednesday. She will give the plenary presentation at a women’s health conference sponsored by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Sara and Policy Analyst Tamara Keeney will present “Unequal Health: A Spotlight on Colorado” at St. Thomas More Episcopal Church this Sunday at 9:15 a.m. As far as anyone here knows, this is our first “CHAS in the Church” presentation.
We have a lot of empty desks at CHI headquarters this week, but that doesn’t mean our work is slowing down.
Look for a new CHAS brief written by Emily this week profiling the Coloradans who remain uninsured.
Legislative Director Allie Morgan and I are hard at work on the 2016 edition of Legislation in Review, which recaps trends and takeaways from the just-completed session.
And you’re welcome to join us Thursday at noon for the Safety Net Advisory Committee (SNAC) Learning Lab. Representatives from the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing will be on hand to discuss an analysis of Medicaid provider rates, as well as an upcoming state plan to address access to care for Medicaid clients. Please RSVP to Jessica Fern if you’d like to join us.