Rural Health Care Leadership Conference: Jan 30-Feb 2, 2011

January 30-February 2, 2011; Phoenix, AZ
Health Forum and the American Hospital Association are presenting the 24th Annual Rural Health Care Leadership Conference in Phoenix, AZ next year. Details on the conference can be found at www.healthforum.com/rural. Please click here to download the conference brochure.

Colorado Business Districts Receive Grant Award

Main Street of Fowler, CO

Three rural communities, along with the Five Points neighborhood in Denver, will receive $1.28 million in Federal grant dollars from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Transportation to help revitalize their downtown business districts. This funding will support production of sorely needed housing and clean-up in the community’s historic “Main Street” area, allowing for renovation of historic buildings and improvements for downtown walkways in the Five Points neighborhood of Denver, the City of Rifle on the West Slope, the City of Monte Vista in the San Luis Valley and the Town of Fowler in the southeast.

Wayne Snider, Administrator for the Town of Fowler, noted that this grant will help fund both the rehabilitation of their historic 1911 theater and extension of solar power to many stores in the main street area. Solar is already an important component of Fowler’s energy use, allowing for their energy rates to run between 40 and 50 percent of the state average. Fowler believes that these factors will influence the decisions of healthcare providers that the town is trying to recruit through CRHC's Colorado Provider Recruitment program.

We have been watching the Sustainable Main Streets Initiative closely, due to the connection between developing and maintaining community amenities and recruiting and retaining healthcare workforce. Our Colorado STRIDES Program Manager, Clint Cresawn said, “It’s my job to help healthcare providers fall in love with rural Colorado. I know healthcare providers are attracted to communities that develop and maintain their unique assets, so when two communities are competing for the attention of the same healthcare provider, amenities such as walkability, historic preservation, and housing can be the deciding factor on which community the provider chooses.”

In areas all across rural Colorado, community amenities are important not only to healthcare providers, but also to other professionals such as educators and business owners. The improvements that Fowler, Monte Vista, and Rifle will be able to make will certainly enhance their ability to recruit and retain professionals!

Congratulations, rural Colorado, on this major grant award!

Flu Prevention Toolkit

For the fifth year, CDPHE is providing a Toolkit of resources about influenza prevention. The goal is to mobilize and support the immunization of healthcare providers and the patients whose health they protect.

This year’s toolkit has two major improvements:

1. The toolkit content is available exclusively on line at http://www.immunizecolorado.com/;
2. We are pleased to offer a variety of newly designed marketing materials to educate Colorado’s providers and patients about the importance of getting a seasonal flu vaccination.

The “No Excuses” campaign materials can be ordered from our printing partner by going to: flutoolkit.thinkbigsolutions.com or by selecting “Order 2010-11 Marketing Materials” on the left hand menu of the Colorado Adult Immunization Coalition website http://www.immunizecolorado.com/. There is no charge for most of these materials but supplies are limited, so act soon!

Denver Post spotlights healthcare in one rural Colorado community

In Saturday's article, "In tiny Crawford, health reform has one face: "Our Jenny," nurse practitioner", the Denver Post highlights Crawford, Colorado's sole healthcare provider and her struggle to serve her community.  Although health reform is intended to help people just like them, many residents are still opposed to the idea of forced insurance coverage.  Click on the link above to access the entire article and read about the challenges they're facing and how they're working to overcome them.

One CRHC staff member was able to attend the fundraising benefit mentioned in the article, and was so impressed by the spirit of community and commitment Crawford showed.  CRHC is proud to support all of our hard-working rural clinics and hospitals!

EHR Vendor Symposium

The EHR Vendor Symposium, presented by CRHC and ClinicNET, and sponsored by the Colorado Health Foundation, COPIC, and the High Plains Research Network, was held October 13-14 in Aurora, and showcased the many different Electronic Health Record products available.  Nearly 140 attendees watched demonstrations by nine different EHR vendors and learned from the educational sessions on process improvement, encryption, and the EHR implementation process.  NextGen Healthcare and Meditech demonstrated their EHR solutions for both hospitals and clinics, while Amrita, Allscripts, Cascade Systems, Clinic Service, eClinicalWorks, HMS, MDM Group / RT Welter & Associates each specialize in one or the other, and demonstrated their solutions.  Representatives from over 25 hospitals and clinics from around Colorado were in attendance, and several left the event knowing which product they wanted to implement in their facility.

Julie from Havens Family Clinic in Cañon City and her coworkers attended the event, and commented,"We needed help and the vendors and staff gave us what we needed threefold.  The Symposium was so informative.  It was so refreshing to have helpful friendly people there to answer any questions we had and to make sure we found our way around the event."

Thank you to all who attended and helped make this event possible!  Presentations and information will be posted in the coming days at http://coruralhealth.org/programs/hit/vendorfair.htm for those who could not make it to the event.

Automatic External Defibrillators Placed in Rural Colorado Communities

Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) received a $100,000 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in the Spring of 2010 to distribute Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) in remote rural areas throughout Colorado. In rural areas where travel time to hospital intervention is often lengthy due to vast distances, mountainous terrain and/or weather hazards, early use of AEDs on heart attack victims has been shown to save lives. In Summit County this summer, a patient’s life was saved after Summit County Ambulance Service first responder personnel used an in-vehicle AED on a heart attack victim in a local restaurant.

Through the HRSA grant funding, CRHC issued a total of 54 AEDs and accessories to Colorado’s Regional Emergency Trauma Advisory Councils (RETAC) who in turn placed the AEDs in strategic public locations in their rural regions. In addition, many of the RETACs purchased and distributed additional AEDs in the community with their own funds. Each AED is valued between $1,350 & $1,500 per unit depending on accessories ordered.

CRHC has been the recipient of similar AED grant programs through HRSA in the past, and over 500 AEDs have been placed over the past several years. This year’s funding allows communities to continue to ensure all first response agencies such as ambulance services, fire departments, and law enforcement vehicles have the devices, and also allows for strategic placement of AEDs in additional public priority areas such as public parks and community centers.

In spite of these federal grant programs to purchase AEDs, immediate access to an AED is still an issue in many rural communities. CRHC is committed to continue to look for grant and funding opportunities to increase access to the devices in rural areas. For questions regarding this grant program, please contact Ron Seedorf at rs@coruralhealth.org.

Gunnison Valley Hospital begins outpatient services addition and remodel project

Gunnison Valley Hospital’s plan to expand and revitalize healthcare services in its community is beginning to take shape.

Construction of a $5.1 million hospital addition and renovation began in early August 2010. The project includes a new 14,000 square foot addition to the hospital, and a 4,500 square foot renovation of existing space. The addition will house the relocated and expanded lab and radiology departments and a new outpatient registration area. The renovation will provide expanded space for a visiting physicians clinic and a new oncology treatment clinic.

The addition and renovation are the initial phase of a five-year master facilities plan for Gunnison Valley Hospital. By focusing on outpatient services and creating a patient-centered care environment, the hospital is improving access for area patients and is positioning to keep more healthcare dollars in the Gunnison community.

“We are a $50 million economic engine in the Gunnison community. This project supports our growth, which is important to the economic vitality of our area,” said Randy Phelps, Gunnison Valley Hospital Chief Executive Officer.

The Neenan Company, a CRHC Corporate Member, is providing integrated design and construction services on the project through the design-build delivery model.

The GVH addition and remodel is scheduled to be completed in August 2011.

For more information on the new facility, please contact Kate Hagdorn at 970.416.3521 or kate.hagdorn@neenan.com.

AirLife Denver named Air Medical Program of the Year

Congratulations to AirLife Denver for being named the Air Medical Program of the Year--a huge, national honor!  Thank you for continuing to provide such a high caliber of patient care, leadership, and safety.

Learn more at www.airlifedenver.com.

Retain Your Healthcare Professionals!

CROP Deadline: November 1, 2010

Are you working hard to retain the healthcare professionals at your medical facility? Would you like some assistance doing so? The Colorado Rural Outreach Program (CROP) provides grants for loan repayment or bonuses, to assist in the retention of your valuable healthcare professionals. CROP is unique compared to other loan repayment programs because it is available to a wide range of healthcare professionals - all healthcare professionals are eligible, including, but not limited to, physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, providers of mental health services, providers of dental health services such as dentists and dental hygienists, allied health professionals such as lab or radiology technicians, and pharmacists.

Please note that this fall’s round of CROP is different from rounds in previous years – rather than being for recruitment and retention grants they are only for retention grants. And, rather than the incentive being used for loan repayment only, this year’s awards also may be used to pay bonuses to healthcare professionals who no longer have student loan debt.

The deadline for the fall Colorado Rural Outreach Program (CROP) grants is November 1, 2010 with awards being made around December 1. To learn more or for an application click here. To talk with someone about CROP please contact Cherith Flowerday, Grants Manager, at 303.996.9698 or cfl@coruralhealth.org.

A Student Perspective on Rural Immersion Week

Written by Pharmacy students Chutima J. Harichaikul and Gbemileke K. Renner, SOP

The Summer 2010 Rural Immersion Week program was sponsored and organized by the University of Colorado Denver, Colorado AHEC, the Colorado Trust, and Caring for Colorado Foundation. Professional students and faculty from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical campus got to investigate a rural community, meet with key community members, and experience what family and personal life was like in a rural setting. The goals were to recruit professional interdisciplinary students to live and work as healthcare providers and to make a difference in the lives of the people of rural communities.

During the week in Delta, CO, small interdisciplinary groups were assigned to investigate a specific area of focus (i.e. healthcare, education, community and economy, mental health, criminal justice and law enforcement, and public health and safety) within the community. On the last day, our findings were presented to the entire group along with some key members of the community. We visited many fun and interesting places such as the Pioneer Town in Cedaredge, Hotchkiss Fish Hatchery, Mtn Coal Company West Elk Mine, and Zephyros Farm. We also had a delightful buffalo dinner at Delicious Orchards. An impression was made on all of us that the Delta community was all about catering to the needs of the community and to one another. We would like to say thank you to all of the sponsors who made this rewarding experience available for students; to the Delta community and to all of our hosts for welcoming us with great hospitality!