Recruitment Video by Colorado Family Medicine Residencies
Colorado Family Medicine Residencies created this fantastic (and funny) recruitment tool...check it out!
Colorado Receives $1.05 Million for Workforce Development
Colorado has recently been awarded $1.05 million from HHS for Workforce Development. The University of Colorado, Denver, was awared two separate grants totaling $555,432 for equipment purchases and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment received $500,000 for loan repayment. Grant award tables are available by state.
Cut Services. Raise Taxes. You Decide.
Backseat Budgeter® is a simulation tool that enables you to experience for yourself what it is like to manage a public budget. Elected officials ultimately are in charge, but with Backseat Budgeter you can see the effects of your decisions, gain a better understanding of the challenges officials face, and appreciate the complexities of the public budgeting process.
Furthermore, the choices you make about the budget will be shared with public officials. You can let them know if you think they should step on the gas, put the brakes on spending or change direction altogether.
Backseat Budgeter is a public service tool created by Engaged Public to help citizens understand the tradeoffs associated with spending our public dollars. It is offered as a community service by Engaged Public at cost to any public entity wishing to educate and engage its constituents.
NOSORH Video Tribute to Denny Berens
Denny Berens, director of the Nebraska Office of Rural Health, was recently honored by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) for his many years of service and important accomplishments in rural health. Denny also recently made a gift of $20,000 to NOSORH to create a new community leadership program. According to the NOSORH newsletter, the community leadership program "will cultivate the next generation of community-based rural health leaders who can champion ideas and initiatives that lead to community-appropriate health solutions." The initial focus will be on identifying leaders and building alliances in order to improve community health. As part of their thank-you to Denny, NOSORH made a great little video tribute--check it out!
Health, Healthcare, and Healthy Living Assessments for Rural Communities
Colorado STRIDES, a program of the Colorado Rural Health Center, has recently been spending some time in rural communities and holding meetings to assess the health and healthcare of the area. Check out this article in the Glenwood Springs-Post Independent about the results of Garfield County's SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis: Your community health care input, by Kay Vasilakis. The analysis is the Community Action Plan, which will be created at the next meeting, scheduled for November.
If your community is interested in working with Colorado STRIDES, contact Clint Cresawn, at ccr@coruralhealth.org or 720.248.2745.
If your community is interested in working with Colorado STRIDES, contact Clint Cresawn, at ccr@coruralhealth.org or 720.248.2745.
Letter from the CEO: CRHC continues to support the Opt Out
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| Lou Ann Wilroy, CEO |
In the same issue of the newspaper Dr. Daniel Janik, president of the Colorado Society of Anesthesiologists, has a guest commentary warning against the opt out. The Colorado Rural Health Center agrees with Dr. Janik that having a physician present when anesthesia is administered is preferable. But what is also relevant, and is not discussed in the column, is that sometimes physicians are not immediately available in the rural setting.
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists are qualified to deliver anesthesia care for trauma stabilization before transport, pain management, obstetrics (especially epidurals), and in many other situations. These highly trained and skilled nurses are doing critical work in our rural hospitals, and they deserve our thanks and support. As the Denver Post notes, “in Colorado's 42 rural hospitals, 38 provide anesthesia services, but 24 of them don't have anesthesiologists on staff.” In 63% of the rural hospitals where anesthesia services are available, the care is delivered solely by CRNAs.
What neither the editorial nor the guest commentary from Dr. Janik do not shed light on is the fact that opting out of the Medicare rule does not change the way anesthesia is delivered today in rural Colorado. With the opt out, high quality anesthesia services will continue to be provided by CRNAs and attending physicians will continue to be involved and responsible for patient care. However, rural hospitals in Colorado will no longer be subject to this federal regulatory burden that causes barriers to access to care due to compliance challenges. Patients will have access to anesthesia care in a more seamless and timely manner at the local rural community level.
The Colorado Rural Health Center has advocated for the opt out since it became available as an option for states in 2001 and we continue to urge Governor Ritter to decide in favor of the opt out provision. As the Denver Post persuasively stated, “Allowing nurse anesthetists to work without the supervision of a doctor is an acknowledgement of the difficulties that rural hospitals face in providing access to care. Such a move would give them the flexibility to deliver services without lowering the standard of care that is expected.”
Senate Candidates Speak on RHC Funding during CLUB 20 Debate
Recently, CRHC staff member Clint Cresawn sat on the panel for the CLUB 20 Senatorial debate. He asked candidates Michael Bennet and Ken Buck a great question about funding for Rural Health Clinics. Watch their debate and hear what the candidates have to say about improving rural healthcare!
Rural Immersion Week in Delta County, Colorado
An excerpt from the AHEC Health Matters Newsletter
A group of fourteen health professions students learned a great deal about work and life in a rural community by participating in the “Rural Immersion Week” program in June. The group consisted of five MD students, 4 nursing students, 2 pharmacy students, one psychology intern and two premed students, led by Mark Deutchman MD, director of the Rural Track with local coordination by Evan Cummings who teaches school in Delta.
The students were oriented to the community by a number of local speakers who emphasized how community members in rural areas collaborate to solve problems and maximize resources. The students also learned that healthcare providers in small towns need to wear many hats, and in the process, can have a positive impact on both the lives of individuals and the community overall.
In addition to small group activities, the entire group toured several local businesses including an organic farm, an orchard, the fish hatchery, a re-created pioneer village and the coal mine. The coal mine tour included an extensive safety training session followed by an underground tour. The group was also treated to a gumbo dinner with wine-tasting hosted by the economic development council and to a ranch dinner that included a discussion of the impact of healthcare payment reform on rural areas.
The program was patterned after last year’s equally successful week in Sterling, Colorado. The program will be repeated in June, 2011, probably in the San Luis Valley. Interested students should contact brenda.baumgarten@ucdenver.edu.
Read the Delta County Independent's article on the program: In a small community, relationships are everything
The students were oriented to the community by a number of local speakers who emphasized how community members in rural areas collaborate to solve problems and maximize resources. The students also learned that healthcare providers in small towns need to wear many hats, and in the process, can have a positive impact on both the lives of individuals and the community overall.
The program was patterned after last year’s equally successful week in Sterling, Colorado. The program will be repeated in June, 2011, probably in the San Luis Valley. Interested students should contact brenda.baumgarten@ucdenver.edu.
Read the Delta County Independent's article on the program: In a small community, relationships are everything
Last day to register for the Third Annual Colorado Entrepreneurship Marketplace at the early registration price!
October 15, 2010; Limon, CO
The Third Annual Colorado Entrepreneurship MarketPlace is coming to Limon! Register now to save! The This event offers an opportunity for learning and networking among youth and adults interested in starting or growing their own business. Information sessions will include: Technology, Marketing, Financing, Diversity in Agriculture, Business Development, and Community Development. Registration includes MarketPlace sessions, two Keynote Speaker sessions, continental breakfast, lunch, access to the Exhibit Hall, access to "Colorado Corners - The Store at MarketPlace," and the Taste of the Eastern Plains Reception. An incredible experience full of education, networking, and access to resources awaits you in Limon!
Scholarships Are Available!
Over 60 scholarships have been purchased by organizations throughout the state. If you would like to apply for a scholarship please contact Michelle Alcott via email at malcott@ruralcolorado.org. If you or your organization would like to purchase scholarships for members of your community, please click here.
The Third Annual Colorado Entrepreneurship MarketPlace is coming to Limon! Register now to save! The This event offers an opportunity for learning and networking among youth and adults interested in starting or growing their own business. Information sessions will include: Technology, Marketing, Financing, Diversity in Agriculture, Business Development, and Community Development. Registration includes MarketPlace sessions, two Keynote Speaker sessions, continental breakfast, lunch, access to the Exhibit Hall, access to "Colorado Corners - The Store at MarketPlace," and the Taste of the Eastern Plains Reception. An incredible experience full of education, networking, and access to resources awaits you in Limon!
Scholarships Are Available!
Over 60 scholarships have been purchased by organizations throughout the state. If you would like to apply for a scholarship please contact Michelle Alcott via email at malcott@ruralcolorado.org. If you or your organization would like to purchase scholarships for members of your community, please click here.
Apply now for the Marva Jean Jackson (MJJ) Scholarship!
CRHC created the Marva Jean Jackson (MJJ) Rural Community Health Scholarships Program to encourage rural facilities and communities to “grow their own” healthcare professionals and, when possible, support local scholarship programs. Studies show that persons from rural communities are more likely to return to rural communities for work. Applications can be for anyone pursuing any type of healthcare education (administrative training not included). Examples would be someone studying to be a technician, an employee training to be a diabetes educator, an LPN pursuing an RN degree, or an RN studying to be a Nurse Practitioner, etc. If you are unsure of your applicant’s eligibility, please call and ask. Along the lines of “grow your own”, awards preference will be given to applicants who show a strong likelihood of practicing in your community when they finish their education. CRHC will match, two-to-one, the support provided for the education of a local healthcare professional, up to $1,000 a year.
Eligibility & Application: Download Application
Only rural facilities and communities are eligible to apply, meaning facilities located outside one of Colorado’s 17 metropolitan counties. The Board of Directors will occasionally consider compelling applications from smaller, isolated communities within the larger metropolitan counties. Awards are made for one year, but applicants may reapply in subsequent years. The scholarship recipient must be either currently enrolled in classes or start training within three months of the application date. Applications are accepted year-round. For additional information or with questions please contact:
Eligibility & Application: Download Application
Only rural facilities and communities are eligible to apply, meaning facilities located outside one of Colorado’s 17 metropolitan counties. The Board of Directors will occasionally consider compelling applications from smaller, isolated communities within the larger metropolitan counties. Awards are made for one year, but applicants may reapply in subsequent years. The scholarship recipient must be either currently enrolled in classes or start training within three months of the application date. Applications are accepted year-round. For additional information or with questions please contact:
Cherith Flowerday
303.996.9698
800.851.6782
cfl@coruralhealth.org
Nursing schools, students prepare for healthcare reform’s effects
An excerpt from the Rockford Register Star
A doctor’s appointment may not feel much like a traditional doctor’s appointment pretty soon. Local health systems will be relying on a broader mix of providers to handle the load of uninsured patients that health care reform will add, particularly primary care and family doctors, whose numbers already are dwindling as young doctors are lured away by higher-paying specialty practices.
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants can perform duties similar to those of physicians, including diagnosing and treating illnesses and educating patients about disease prevention. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the fields to be two of the fastest-growing professions in the coming decade.
Advanced degrees are as lucrative, career- and salary-wise, as they are for schools and hospitals. Saint Anthony’s program offers a mix of online and on-campus classes and clinicals so students can still work and learn. Rockford College and Rock Valley College also offer nursing degree programs, and the Northern Illinois Online Initiative for Nursing program offers a hybrid creation that’s a mix of online and on-campus classes through a partnership between local colleges, area hospitals and health systems.
“It’s a model to give patients the best access at the time they need it,” Shannon Lizer, dean of graduate affairs and research, said. “There aren’t enough physicians, and partnerships work.”
Rural areas are the most innovative when it comes to dealing with provider shortages, because they are the ones with the greatest needs and challenges--so how does your community handle it? If you're in need of help recruiting providers, contact Colorado Provider Recruitment, your nonprofit recruiting experts, today!
A doctor’s appointment may not feel much like a traditional doctor’s appointment pretty soon. Local health systems will be relying on a broader mix of providers to handle the load of uninsured patients that health care reform will add, particularly primary care and family doctors, whose numbers already are dwindling as young doctors are lured away by higher-paying specialty practices.
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants can perform duties similar to those of physicians, including diagnosing and treating illnesses and educating patients about disease prevention. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the fields to be two of the fastest-growing professions in the coming decade.
Advanced degrees are as lucrative, career- and salary-wise, as they are for schools and hospitals. Saint Anthony’s program offers a mix of online and on-campus classes and clinicals so students can still work and learn. Rockford College and Rock Valley College also offer nursing degree programs, and the Northern Illinois Online Initiative for Nursing program offers a hybrid creation that’s a mix of online and on-campus classes through a partnership between local colleges, area hospitals and health systems.
“It’s a model to give patients the best access at the time they need it,” Shannon Lizer, dean of graduate affairs and research, said. “There aren’t enough physicians, and partnerships work.”
Rural areas are the most innovative when it comes to dealing with provider shortages, because they are the ones with the greatest needs and challenges--so how does your community handle it? If you're in need of help recruiting providers, contact Colorado Provider Recruitment, your nonprofit recruiting experts, today!
Patient Safety Campaign Prepares to Launch
The Colorado Medical Society, Citizens for Patient Safety, Colorado Hospital Association, and Rocky Mountain Patient Safety Organization are preparing to launch a new initiative in 2011 called Think About It Colorado.
They hope to serve as the catalyst for a statewide dialogue on patient safety. They've tapped the expertise of a diverse network of groups and individuals and are formulating their plan to promote statewide awareness of patient safety concerns and opportunities and to engage consumers and providers in fostering a culture of patient safety.
The Think About It Colorado campaign will raise awareness about the ongoing initiatives, needs and opportunities to improve patient safety and create the will to move towards an improved system that:
They hope to serve as the catalyst for a statewide dialogue on patient safety. They've tapped the expertise of a diverse network of groups and individuals and are formulating their plan to promote statewide awareness of patient safety concerns and opportunities and to engage consumers and providers in fostering a culture of patient safety.
The Think About It Colorado campaign will raise awareness about the ongoing initiatives, needs and opportunities to improve patient safety and create the will to move towards an improved system that:
- Holds health professionals and health care facilities accountable for the quality of the care they provide.
- Assists injured patients and their families compassionately and fairly.
- Improves safety by ensuring that health professionals and health care facilities share the learning from problems that occur in the course of health care.
- Provides information to patients and their families to become active participants in their own health care.
Funding for Emergency Medical & Trauma Services Education and Training
APPLY TODAY!
CREATE is a grant program designed to assist private and pulic organizations in improving and expanding emergency medical and trauma systems in Colorado. Eligible applicants must have as their purpose the provision of emergency medical and trauma services in Colorado to be eligible.
Visit us online: www.coruralhealth.org/programs/create
Rural Healthcare in Colorado to See Improvements
An exerpt from the Public News Service-CO
To access the full article, with audio, click here.
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| Photo courtesy of Mountain Family Health Center |
Under the new federal health care reform plan, medical services are expected to become more patient-friendly for the more than 700,000 Coloradans who live in rural areas. Among its provisions: the plan will pay an increased share of doctor bills for seniors, lower costs for outpatient prescriptions, and offer better reimbursement for rural ambulance services. Nearly 10 percent of rural patients have no regular source of health care or advice. Federal health care reform also provides $11 billion in funding nationwide to help build and improve community health center service.
To access the full article, with audio, click here.
Treating the Invisible Wounds of War Series: Part 1 - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
This course is designed to help primary care physicians, case workers, mental health providers - who may see a veteran or family member on an unrelated issue - develop a better understanding of the culture in which veterans and their families live and work, and provide best practices for identifying, assessing and treating mental health disorders that result from the trauma of war.
Objectives:
At the conclusion of this course, you should be able to identify:
Primary care physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, psychiatrists and other interested mental health providers.
Length: 3 Hours
Credit Type(s): 3.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit, 3.0 Contact Hours NBCC - Provider #5470, 3.0 Contact Hours, 0.3 CEU
Cost: $0.00
Instructions:
Objectives:
At the conclusion of this course, you should be able to identify:
- Strategies for establishing and maintaining a therapeutic alliance with combat veterans and their families by examining military structure and culture and the combat experience
- Combat Operational Stress Injury (COSI) symptoms and assessment techniques
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms and assessment techniques
- Treatment options for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
- Frames of mental health assessment and treatment options for military personnel
- How family relationships are impacted by mobilization, deployment and redeployment
- Services available for veterans and their families, including those provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and TRICARE
Primary care physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, psychiatrists and other interested mental health providers.
Length: 3 Hours
Credit Type(s): 3.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit, 3.0 Contact Hours NBCC - Provider #5470, 3.0 Contact Hours, 0.3 CEU
Cost: $0.00
Instructions:
- From your browser, go to www.aheconnect.com/citizensoldier
- Click on New Users tab at the top of the screen
- Create a personal user account following the instructions on the screen (be sure to enter your Army OneSource referral code in the space provided: AOSCO13)
- Login to the system using your new id and password
- Click on Courses tab at the top of the screen
- Select a course you wish to complete.
- Click on Register
Consultant Needed for Nonprofit Dental Start-up
The Aspen to Parachute Dental Health Coaltion (APDHC) is looking for a consultant to walk them through the process of becoming a sound, sustainable, dental health organization that will one day become a free standing 501(c)(3). The goal is to have an organization that will provide dental healthcare to all ages in the Garfield County and Pitkin County area. They are looking for a firm that will have the skills to help begin this type of organization and guide the group towards making the best choices when it comes to timing, finances, local factors, business models, etc. The Coalition is a very dedicated and hard working team -looking for knowledgeable insight, leadership, financial expertise, and guidance from an experienced outside agency. A basic business plan has already been developed, and the Coalition is now accepting bids.
Please contact Carrie Godes, of Garfield County Public Health, with questions and to submit a bid, at 970.625.5200 x 8122, or cgodes@garfield-county.com.
Please contact Carrie Godes, of Garfield County Public Health, with questions and to submit a bid, at 970.625.5200 x 8122, or cgodes@garfield-county.com.
Safety Net Clinic Week is in the news!
It's Safety Net Clinic Week 2010! Check out this piece by KJCT in Grand Junction on Marillac Clinic and its work as part of Colorado's Safety Net.
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