Twelve nonprofit healthcare organizations across Colorado will receive $2 million in grants to help them adopt health information technology.
The Colorado Health Foundation awarded the grants as part of its efforts to make Colorado the healthiest state in the nation. In 2007 the Foundation launched Healthy Connections, an $11 million, multiyear initiative aimed at increasing the use of information technology in safety-net clinics and creating the infrastructure necessary for healthcare providers to share information electronically.
The grants were awarded to a diverse range of nonprofit healthcare organizations, including Federally Qualified Health Centers, critical access hospitals, rural health clinics, community-based health information exchanges, an independent clinic, a community mental health center and a statewide association of school-based health centers.
The latest Healthy Connections grantees include:
• Chaffee People's Clinic (Salida)
• Clinica Family Health Services (Lafayette)
• Colorado Association for School-Based Health Care (Denver)
• Fort Collins Family Medicine Residency Program (Fort Collins)
• Grand River Hospital District (Rifle)
• Mountain Family Health Centers (Glenwood Springs)
• Northwest Colorado Community Health Project (Steamboat Springs/Craig)
• St. Vincent General Hospital District - Buena Vista Family Practice Clinic (Leadville/Buena Vista)
• Salud Family Health Centers (Fort Lupton)
• CORHIO/San Luis Valley Health Information Exchange (Denver/Alamosa)
• Southwest Colorado Mental Health Center (Durango)
• Southwest Memorial Hospital - Southwest Primary Care Clinic (Cortez)
"It's increasingly clear that health information technology is a key strategy in improving our health care system," said Anne Warhover, president and CEO of The Colorado Health Foundation. "The recently passed federal stimulus package includes significant investments in HIT. The Foundation is working to ensure that Colorado's health care safety net is positioned to take advantage of HIT's potential to both improve healthcare quality and reduce costs."
