Model Grants
Following are just four examples of how we work with grantee partners to achieve measurable results toward improving access to Health Care:
Colorado Regional Integrated Care Collaborative
The Colorado Regional Integrated Care Collaborative is made up of federal and state government organizations—led by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF)—state health plans and providers, consumer groups and other stakeholders. Its goal is to improve the quality of care for the highest need, highest cost Medicaid beneficiaries by integrating the care they receive.
We have granted HCPF just over $877,000 to support the collaborative's efforts to develop, implement and then evaluate new models for improving the quality of care for high-cost adult Medicaid beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions.
North Colorado Health Alliance
The North Colorado Health Alliance is a nonprofit working to ensure that all medically underserved residents of northeast Colorado have access to appropriate, affordable, quality health care and preventive services. NCHA partners with a variety of private and public organizations, including the North Colorado Medical Center, the University of Northern Colorado and the Weld County Health Department. The Colorado Health Foundation granted NCHA $142,300 in support of their efforts to increase access to integrated primary care and behavioral health services for the growing number of uninsured and underinsured people in Weld County with co-occurring mental health and physical health problems. Integrating behavioral and physical health services will ensure better recognition and treatment of co-occurring conditions resulting in better outcomes.
Physician Loan Repayment Program
In 2008, new physicians will be practicing in 18 Federally Qualified Health Centers, non-federally qualified clinics and rural health centers in rural or underserved urban communities across Colorado, thanks to our Physician Loan Repayment Program.
Working with our partners, the Colorado Rural Health Center and the Colorado Community Health Network, the Foundation approved grants of more than $2 million to help pay off the physicians' educational loans during the three-year period they will work in the underserved area. One of the most generous programs in the country, awarding up to $150,000 to each physician over three years, the program will establish Colorado as a leader in addressing local and national medical shortages by attracting and retaining more quality doctors in Colorado.
As of last March, 57 of Colorado's 65 counties were designated as health professional shortage or underserved areas. Often the communities that are in most need of a physician have the fewest resources to recruit one. The ongoing Physician Loan Repayment Program is working to address this need.
Healthy Connections
Healthy Connections is our first multiyear initiative. In 2007, $2.5 million was granted to 21 nonprofit organizations providing health care to low-income, uninsured Coloradans. The funds were used to establish or expand health information technology (HIT) capacity so they could improve access to high-quality health care.
In addition to funds, Healthy Connections provides technical assistance, peer learning, support for grant recipients and dissemination of new information. Healthy Connections supports organizations that are just beginning to consider how HIT can support their missions, as well as those “on the cutting edge” of HIT implementation. In addition to assisting individual clinics, we are hoping this initiative will advance the field of HIT as a whole.
In 2008, we are soliciting new applications for Healthy Connections funding from nonprofits that provide primary care in outpatient settings, regardless of a patient's ability to pay. Learn more about Healthy Connections and the recent Request for Proposals.