2013 Annual Report: A Bold New Vision of Health Equity
By Ned Calonge, MD, MPH, The Colorado Trust
We’re proud to share the 2013 annual report for The Colorado Trust. Our online report highlights and recaps what was an exciting, eventful 28th year of the foundation supporting efforts to improve the health and well-being of Coloradans.
An important change for us last year was the announcement of our new focus on health equity. Following more than a year of research, learning, discussion and planning, we also unveiled our new, health equity-focused vision – that all Coloradans have fair and equal opportunities to lead healthy, productive lives regardless of race, ethnicity, income or where we live.
The most recent iteration of the Colorado Health Access Survey (CHAS), the biannual statewide research project managed by the Colorado Health Institute, only confirmed the pressing need to reduce health disparities in our state. Our annual report includes a detailed CHAS infographic showing troubling variances in health care access, coverage, outcomes and utilization by race and ethnicity in Colorado. There are clearly many opportunities in these findings to begin addressing and achieving health equity.
Our Health Equity Learning Series was an outstanding success in its first year, with more than 1,000 in-person participants at five seminars featuring eight of the country’s top experts in health equity and related fields. We also live-streamed the events online to allow Coloradans located outside the metro area the ability to participate. We are already seeing exceptional interest and engagement in our second year of the series, with two more dynamic speakers scheduled in the months ahead.
We have some wonderful grantee stories in this year’s report showcasing the outstanding work being done statewide. I hope you’ll share the report with your colleagues and peers, and I look forward to discussing more on our new health equity vision, efforts and results in the future. We have a lot of exciting work ahead of us.
