Increase Access to Care

Leslie Rangel and her siblings are among the uninsured children served by Clinica Tepeyac. Clinic managers enrolled 9-year-old Leslie - who suffers from Satoyoshi Syndrome - in Medicaid. Now, she is receiving the medication she needs to treat the rare and painful disease.NEW GRANTEES STRENGTHEN REACH OF SAFETY-NET PROVIDERS

Fourteen new grants from The Colorado Trust, totaling $4.5 million over three years, will help to strengthen the ability of safety-net providers to care for more children, and to provide comprehensive care. These diverse grantees include after-school programs, faith-based clinics, agencies serving low-income families, a school district, a hospital, an affordable housing provider, as well as county-coordinated collaboratives. By the end of the three-year grant period, these organizations anticipate that 18,000 children who do not now have access to care will annually receive preventative, primary, oral and behavioral health care services.

Some grantees will hire new providers to serve more patients. For example, Denver Health is adding a pediatrician to the medical team at its Montbello clinic. This means that families that have been on wait lists or have had to seek care at clinics further away from home, now can see a doctor in their neighborhood in a more timely manner. This doctor will also visit nearby school-based health centers to provide care.

These safety-net providers will also be better able to connect children with additional needed health care services. For instance, the Colorado Asian Health Education and Promotion will work collaboratively with health providers to ensure that Asian-American and Pacific Islander children have access to comfortable, culturally-appropriate health care. This includes connecting patients with a bicultural Community Case Manager, and an interpreter if necessary, to help overcome barriers to timely health care.

The safety-net health care provider grantees include:
1. ACS Community LIFT
2. Clínica Tepeyac
3. Colorado Asian Health Education and Promotion
4. Denver Health and Hospital Authority
5. Doctors Care
6. Inner City Health Center
7. Midwestern Colorado Mental Health Center		 8. Mountain Resource Center
9. Northeast Colorado Health Department
10. Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association
11. Peak Vista Community Health Centers
12. San Juan Basin Health Department
13. SET Family Medical Clinics of Colorado Springs
14. Weld County Department of Public Health and
Environment
For more information contact Deidre Johnson, Program Officer, 303-837-1200, deidre@coloradotrust.org.