Sara Schmitt

Sara Schmitt has led the Colorado Health Institute since June 2023. Her leadership has positioned CHI as a key partner for state and local government agencies, foundations, health care providers and payers, community organizations, and other partners committed to health and well-being.

Sara spent more than a decade in progressive leadership roles at CHI, including as Managing Director of Research, Evaluation, and Consulting where she played a key role in creating and launching the Metro Denver Partnership for Health (MDPH), a multisector collaboration to advance health for more than 3 million people in the metro Denver area. Under Sara’s guidance, the partnership emerged as a leading regional voice in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and has led efforts to advance behavioral health and community-clinical linkages. She also led work on critical projects including Colorado's Health Information Technology (IT) Roadmap and CHI’s Colorado Health Access Survey. Sara is part of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded project to provide technical assistance and support for public health departments in the mountain west region, with a focus on workforce development and data modernization.

Before joining CHI, Sara was a Policy Analyst at the Colorado Rural Health Center, the state office of rural health, and recruited physicians and other medical professionals for clinics and hospitals in Colorado’s rural and underserved regions. She spent several years in managed care and program development at the University of Chicago Medical Center. She also has worked in policy advocacy and provided supportive services for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Sara earned a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University and a master’s degree in health administration and policy from the University of Chicago.

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Sample Projects:

• Colorado Health IT Roadmap
• The Value of Partnership: How Colorado's Co-Responder Programs Enhance Access to Behavioral Health Care
• Telemedicine research
• Metro Denver Partnership for Health COVID-19 Resources
• Colorado Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Needs Assessment

Skills: Facilitation and convening, evaluation, data and information governance, needs assessment.

Focus Areas:

• Multisector collaboration
• Public health and prevention
• Health information technology

Contact Sara