Jeff Bontrager
Director of Research and Evaluation
Jeff Bontrager is Director of Research and Evaluation at the Colorado Health Institute. He joined CHI in 2005. Jeff oversees CHI’s evaluation portfolio and coordinates many of CHI’s survey research efforts and analyses related to care, health coverage, health equity, and safety net systems.
Jeff serves as principal investigator on the biennial Colorado Health Access Survey (CHAS) and led the multi-year evaluation of the Colorado Health Access Fund of The Denver Foundation. He also helped launch CHI's climate change and health initiative, Acclimate Colorado. Jeff develops publications, makes presentations, and provides leadership, facilitation, and management on a variety of projects and initiatives at CHI.
Before arriving at CHI, Jeff supported state and national research efforts at the University of Colorado’s Division of Health Care Policy and Research.
Jeff earned a master’s degree in public health from the University of Colorado and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Goshen College.
Jeff serves on the board of Project Angel Heart and as chair of its Board Development Committee. In his free time, Jeff enjoys playwriting, volunteering, biking, hiking, acting, baking, organizing silent disco fundraisers, designing neckwear; attending music festivals, putting together IKEA furniture, exploring new cities with his partner, and pampering their 10-lb Shih Tzu, Walter. He chairs the Outreach Team at Glennon Heights Mennonite Church.
Sample Projects:
- 2021 Colorado Health Access Survey: Navigating Uncharted Waters
- Colorado's Health and Climate Policy Agenda
- Stretching the Safety Net: How Are Colorado’s Providers Adapting Amid Change and Uncertainty?
- Telemedicine in Colorado: The Jetsons, A RAPID Response to COVID-19, and the Big Questions Ahead
- Flashpoints and Fixes: An Asset and Gap Analysis of Barriers to Care for Coloradans with High Health Needs
- The ABCs of Health Equity for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs: A Policy Agenda for Colorado
- 2019 Medicaid and Commercial Access to Care Index: How Payer Type Influences Coloradans' Access to Needed Health Care
- The Ways of the RAEs: Regional Accountable Entities and Their Role in Colorado's Medicaid's Newest Chapter
Skills: Quantitative and qualitative research, program evaluation, facilitation, public speaking, writing, convening
Focus Areas:
- Health equity
- Medicaid Insurance coverage
- Policy Health care safety net
- Social determinants of health