| COLORADO TRUST HEALTH CARE INITIATIVES HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS ~ Health Professions ~ To address the severe shortage of health care professionals in Colorado, this Trust initiative supports 22 organizations in working to increase the number of primary, mental and dental health care professionals, as well as pharmacists – with a special focus on the recruitment and retention of health care practitioners in rural Colorado communities. HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS ~ Partnerships for Health ~ With limited federal resources, and state and local public health budgets continuing to decline, many providers in Colorado’s public health system are struggling to provide essential health services. This Trust initiative supports 14 partnerships in helping to strengthen community health systems. HEALTH POLICY ~ Colorado Health Institute ~ The Colorado Trust, Caring for Colorado Foundation and Rose Community Foundation established the independent, nonprofit Colorado Health Institute in 2002. CHI is an independent and impartial source for reliable and relevant health-related information for sound decisionmaking. ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE ~ Equality in Health ~ Because racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by disease, disability and death, this Trust initiative supports increasing the cultural competency of the 14 grantee nonprofi t organizations and health care clinics to help them better provide equality in treatment in medical services, equal access to care, and equal environmental conditions and healthy behaviors among racial and ethnic minorities. MENTAL HEALTH CARE ~ Advancing Colorado’s Mental Health Care ~ The Trust has partnered with Caring for Colorado Foundation, The Denver Foundation and HealthONE Alliance to support six Colorado communities, each representing a collaborative among numerous human services agencies and nonprofit organizations, in improving mental health care. MENTAL HEALTH CARE ~ Preventing Suicide in Colorado ~ This initiative is helping to address the devastating problem of suicide in the state by encouraging people at risk of attempting suicide to seek care. The 10 grantee organizations are reaching out to people in 32 counties with a focus on providing more education and awareness, referring at-risk individuals for screening and ensuring that referred patients receive counseling. IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF PATIENT CARE ~ Colorado 100k Lives Campaign ~ Based on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s national 100k Lives Campaign, The Trust is supporting Colorado hospitals’ efforts to further strengthen their ability to provide safe patient care. Sixty-two of Colorado’s 71 acute care hospitals are participating in the campaign, along with more than 3,000 hospitals nationwide. IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF PATIENT CARE ~ Colorado Clinical Guidelines Collaborative ~ With Trust support, the Colorado Clinical Guidelines Collaborative is developing comprehensive guidelines for management of chronic diseases and health concerns. The guidelines help to reduce practice variation among physicians and health care providers, potentially improving patient outcomes and cost effectiveness. |