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Project Overview, History and Strategy:
Trinidad Community-Based Health Care Solutions
Purpose and History
Partners
Goals and Objectives
Year One: January-December 2006
Year Two: January-December 2007
Meeting Notes
Contact Information
In its pursuit to make Colorado the healthiest state in the nation, The Colorado Health Foundation (The Foundation), is committed to ensuring that rural communities overcome existing issues that prevent adequate and accessible health care. Therefore, The Foundation has funded a pilot project initiated by the Community Resource Center (CRC) and the Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) to form community groups in Trinidad and Leadville to develop a set of solutions that effectively improve health care. It is the hope of The Foundation and its partners that these community groups discuss, strategize, and implement programs that will improve communication, overcome conflict, and increase resources. The Foundation believes that with a community wide approach to improving health care comes increased funding from itself and other public entities.
The Colorado Health Foundation
The Colorado Health Foundation, formerly HealthONE Alliance, is a nonprofit organization working with others to make Colorado the healthiest state in the nation. One of the largest foundations in the state, the Foundation has returned nearly $40 million to the community since 1996. Assets are used to award grants to nonprofit organizations and to fund medical education and direct care programs. The Foundation is committed to advancing health and health care through improved health care access and by empowering Coloradans to take charge of their health.
Community Resource Center
Mission Statement: The Community Resource Center (CRC) provides opportunities, tools and strategies for Colorado nonprofit organizations and community groups to achieve a more just society.
The Community Resource Center (CRC) is a nonprofit organization, established in 1981 to provide leadership training, technical assistance, and consultation to community-based organizations in Colorado and across the nation. More than 2,500 Colorado nonprofit organizations and community groups typically use CRC services each year. Of this total, CRC provides one-on-one services to more than 400 Colorado nonprofits each year. The CRC staff brings a broad diversity of experience, knowledge, and capabilities in the areas of community planning and development, nonprofit management and fundraising, leadership training, organizational capacity building, and the development of strategies for initiating change in public policies.
A cornerstone of CRC’s programming is its Community Development Program. CRC works with individuals and groups who want to develop citizen groups to address and solve current issues facing a community. CRC acts as a facilitator, trainer, and overall resource to community groups, but expects that leadership and direction comes from its participants. This work has resulted in developing organizations such as the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, Save Our Section 8 Coalition, Community Shares of Colorado, and the Colorado Nonprofit Association.
Colorado Rural Health Center
Mission Statement: The Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) enhances health care services in Colorado by providing information, education, linkages, tools & energy toward addressing rural healthcare issues.
The Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) was created by members of the Rural Health Consortium in 1991 to identify and address Colorado's rural health needs. It started with a budget of $38,000. Since then almost $4 million has been raised, most of it going directly back into rural communities. CRHC has created numerous programs to address specific rural needs related to seniors, telecommunications, physical access, immunizations, emergency medical systems, or the health care workforce.
CRHC continues to be unique among other office of rural health (and all states have one) in its organization as a not-for-profit agency. This structure, along with an elected rural board of directors and council, allows CRHC the flexibility, autonomy and responsiveness to serve rural needs as they arise. CRHC works in partnership with a wide variety of agencies and has grown to include membership of 800 individuals, students, organizations and corporations statewide. Members elect the Board of Directors, a majority of whom must be from rural areas. CRHC has a staff of 11 FTEs. While membership based, CRHC serves members and nonmembers throughout the state of Colorado to address a wide spectrum of rural health issues.
The Community Resource Center (CRC) in partnership with the Colorado Rural Health Center is working to build strong community partnerships in Trinidad. CRC will work with the local hospitals, governing boards, clinics, providers, and most importantly, community members toward developing local leadership that can allow the community to better access and utilize health care resources available to them, thus stabilizing and improving their health care infrastructure. The goals of this work are the following:
- To establish broad unity of purpose among key stakeholders to promote a stable health care delivery system in Trinidad;
- To form leadership groups that will be able to develop and implement a strategy for a stable health care delivery system;
- To link these leadership groups with the appropriate human and financial resources necessary to develop stable health care delivery systems.
The initial steps of this project were designed to build contacts with key leaders in the community and to then hold a series of meetings in order to identify the current state of health in Trinidad, and more importantly, what could be done to improve upon it. The first 7 months of 2006 consisted of conducting research, meeting with individuals, and determining leadership opportunities that existed in the Trinidad area. Starting in August monthly meetings were held starting with a small of group of ten people, primary issues facing health care in Trinidad were identified and causes to these issues discussed. With September, October, and November meetings came an increase in interest and attendance of the meetings grew and became more diverse. By the end of the November meeting, two primary goals were developed to address the issues that had been identified.
- Provide educational tools and opportunities to the public in order to increase efficient and effective use of existing health care services.
- Identify and generate additional resources to both increase and improve health services in Trinidad and Las Animas County.
After a two month delay in 2007, monthly meetings resumed in March to determine how these goals could be made more specific. By the end of the April meeting two specific actions were identified and initial support for them began to grow. These actions were to:
- Create a Health Resource Guide listing all health related services, how to contact them, what circumstances justify a particular service, who they serve. This resource guide would be distributed to over 10,000 households in the Trinidad area and should increase understanding and knowledge about health care resources.
- Create a Health Service District that could generate funds to be distributed to health care providers throughout the county. For more information about the health service district see attached form entitled Just The Facts: Las Animas Health Service District.
Since the April meeting several things have taken place.
- First, we had Evan Goulding, Executive Director of the Special Districts Association come to Trinidad and speak to the process of forming health districts.
- Second, an outreach committee was developed out of participants attending our monthly meetings. The outreach committee, as well as others, have been speaking to organizations, civic groups, health care providers, and elected officials about the purpose of the health district and what particular issues it will address. As a result momentum has grown greatly around the opportunity to form a health district and led to over 50 attendees at the July meeting.
- Third, there has been initial support shown from the hospital board (TAHA) and elected officials such as Commissioner Montoya and Mayor of Trinidad Riorda.
Overall the process to successfully create a health district is moving forward. However, there remains an enormous amount of work between now, the end of the year, and next year. In regards to a health district strategy, there are four major elements that must take place.
- First, outreach must continue throughout the county. This includes agencies and the general public. The idea of a district must show consistent support if it is going to even make it to the ballot.
- Second, fundraising must take place. It is anticipated that to run a campaign and get the legal support for a district $20,000 to $35,000 must be raised and distributed to a campaign organization, not the Community Resource Center.
- Third, an area-wide health assessment must be conducted to determine specific need. There needs to be broad representation and participation in forming this assessment, and it will need to be done by an outside source capable of conducting such a project.
- Fourth, a service plan must be developed that outlines exactly what the health district will focus its tax funds on. La Plata County’s service plan would likely be a good beginning for Las Animas County, but the health assessment will be the main factor for determining the plan.
The outreach and fundraising need to take place throughout the end of 2007 and then into 2008.
August 17, 2006
September 21, 2006
October 19, 2006
November 16, 2006
April 25, 2007
May 24, 2007
June 21, 2007
July 26, 2007
Community Resource Center
Gabriel Guillaume
1-800-516-6284
www.crcamerica.org
Colorado Rural Health Center
Lou Ann Wilroy
1-800-851-6782
www.coruralhealth.org
The Colorado Health Foundation
877-225-0839
www.coloradohealth.org
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800.516.6284