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Partners in Public Health: Understanding the roles of LCDHE and the Health District · Healthier Together: Larimer County's Public Health Podcast

0:02
Welcome to Healthier Together, Larimer County's
0:04
public health podcast, where we come together
0:06
for healthier lives, connected communities, and
0:08
real conversations. From your local public health
0:11
team, I'm your host, Tom. And I'm Joanna. The
0:14
Health District of Northern Larimer County is
0:16
a special government district that works to enhance
0:19
the health and well -being of our community.
0:21
As we share a similar mission, people often ask
0:25
how the health department and the health district
0:26
differ. Today, we're talking with Brian Ferencz,
0:29
Executive Director at the Health District, and
0:32
Tom Gonzalez, Executive Director here at the
0:34
Health Department, to discuss what sets these
0:36
two organizations apart and where they work together.
0:40
Brian and Tom, thank you for joining us. Well,
0:42
thanks for having us. Yeah, thanks for having
0:44
us. I appreciate Brian coming and coming and
0:46
talking. Brian, how long have you been Executive
0:49
Director? Four months? Four months. And Brian
0:54
and I met twice already and looking at ways we
0:57
can coordinate. I'm excited about Brian. He's
0:59
just a good guy. And I'm looking forward to working
1:02
with him and his organization because there's
1:04
just great things we can do and where we can
1:07
all rally and do great work, even in challenging
1:09
times. I'm glad you're where you're at, Brian.
1:12
I'm glad you're here and I'm looking forward
1:14
to working with you. I appreciate the support,
1:16
Tom. I'm excited to work with you. continue working
1:19
through, but in a different capacity. And if
1:21
anybody knows anything about leading through
1:23
challenging times, it's you. So I'm excited to
1:27
sort of see, you know, where this partnership
1:29
goes and where the community conversations and
1:32
collaboration can go to advance community health
1:34
alongside you. Yeah, it's great. I'm excited.
1:37
Yeah. Brian, what drew you to the health district?
1:40
Well, yeah, actually kind of drew me back. So
1:42
I worked for the health district previously with
1:45
our community impact team for about four years.
1:47
And so obviously I was connected with the mission
1:50
and vision of the health district. The health
1:52
district has some flexibility to do some creative
1:55
response and work in the community that other
1:58
systems and organizations are not able to do.
2:01
And I find that really appealing. The health
2:04
department and the health district are commonly
2:06
confused for one another. So can you both give
2:09
us an overview of your organizations and the
2:12
work that they do? Sure. Yeah. So the health
2:14
district, we are special tax district to provide
2:17
community health services across northern Larimer
2:20
County. So if you think of the northern two thirds
2:23
of Larimer County is kind of our boundaries.
2:26
We provide low income dental services. We provide
2:30
insurance navigation services for the community.
2:33
We provide behavioral health services. We also
2:36
do some convening around health issues. We do
2:39
some community health assessment work. And yeah,
2:42
we've been around since 1960. The health department
2:46
was formally organized in 1968 by a resolution
2:51
by the Board of County Commissioners that made
2:54
us a governmental public health organization.
2:57
Public health in Larimer County goes way back
3:00
further than that, where we had sanitarians,
3:02
which are called environmental health specialists
3:04
today, doing the good work around food safety
3:06
and water quality, as well as public health nurses
3:09
with vaccines and tuberculosis work. So that
3:13
goes back into the 20s and 30s. But 1968 was
3:16
the official organization of... Larimer County
3:19
Department of Health and Environment. And one
3:21
way to look at it is we are an arm of the Colorado
3:25
Department of Public Health and Environment.
3:26
Much of our work is mandated through what's called
3:30
the Colorado Core Public Health Services and
3:33
Capabilities Rule. It's the Colorado Board of
3:35
Health. But that establishes guidelines of what
3:39
work we do. And we cover the entire county, all
3:42
the municipalities. So we are the health department
3:44
for the city of Fort Collins, Colorado State
3:46
University, Estes Park, etc. And that's where
3:49
really the work lies and where we're working
3:52
with our community. And really, our mission is
3:54
working every day. So everyone has that opportunity
3:56
for a healthy life. And Brian, how did the health
4:00
district come about? We started in 1960 as a
4:05
hospital district and really to operate Poudre
4:11
Valley Hospital in the community. And we did
4:14
that until 1994. We passed on the hospital operations
4:19
to a locally controlled nonprofit, which is now
4:23
known today as UC Health. And we started focusing
4:27
on community health services and providing services
4:30
to the community in a different way than hospital
4:33
services. And then we officially changed. our
4:37
name in 1996, to the health district with some
4:40
different changes to Colorado law that allowed
4:42
us to broaden our services outside of just hospital
4:45
services. Can you explain what special government
4:49
district means? We're not that dissimilar from
4:53
a fire district, a water district. We are largely
4:57
funded by property tax dollars, so a mill levy.
4:59
And so we are a public entity. And again, funded
5:06
by property tax dollars to provide community
5:08
health services to the boundaries that are approved
5:11
by the residents of Larimer County. That's an
5:14
important distinction for folks when they're
5:17
thinking about the health department, the health
5:18
district. The health department is not. funded
5:21
strictly by property taxes. It's funded through
5:24
the county system, but majority of the funding
5:28
comes through the Colorado Department of Public
5:30
Health environment, whether that's federal pass
5:32
-through dollars or money set in annual budget
5:36
by our General Assembly to local public health
5:39
to meet those core capabilities. While we rely
5:43
on some funding that comes through, whether it's
5:46
sales tax or property taxes, that's decided through
5:48
the Board of County Commissioners, ultimately
5:50
to the Board of Health, who is the governing
5:53
board for the health department. Our board now
5:56
is appointed board. It's not an elected board.
5:58
But Brian, if I understand, your board is elected
6:00
by the citizens within the district. Yeah, that's
6:04
correct. So we have a five -member elected board.
6:08
So we hold special district elections. every
6:11
other year in odd -numbered years. So for those
6:15
board positions, and those are open to any individual
6:19
living in northern Larimer County to run for
6:23
our board. And so we will be having one come
6:26
up in the spring of 2027. Does the health district
6:29
interact with the larger county government at
6:32
all? We do. I would say most of our interactions
6:36
come at the department level in collaboration
6:39
with the different departments under the county.
6:42
But we've historically worked with the larger
6:45
county government commissioners, local disasters,
6:48
that type of stuff. You know, certainly it was
6:50
a large partner during COVID and that work. And
6:54
also tracking federal, state, local policy issues
6:59
that align across the county and the health service
7:03
district. Yeah, we work with the larger county
7:05
government. Brian, you guys were fantastic during
7:08
COVID. Where you really partnered was people
7:11
experiencing homelessness. And now you think
7:13
about if somebody's got COVID and you don't have
7:15
a home, where do you go and isolate in a safe
7:20
environment where you can get better? The health
7:23
district managed all of that and from a place
7:26
of compassion and helping our community. But
7:28
that was a piece that we really relied on the
7:31
health district supporting our efforts. And there
7:32
were other. key supports, contact tracing, other
7:35
things that the health district was certainly
7:37
involved in. And that's where we partnered. And
7:39
I think that was a fantastic example of how we
7:42
can partner to solve a challenge. Yeah. Yeah.
7:45
I appreciate that. It was a very unique partnership
7:48
and a unique time and response for the community.
7:51
And again, a great example of what the health
7:54
district is able to do in terms of being responsive
7:57
around some of those community gaps or health
8:00
concerns that pop up that maybe we don't have
8:03
enough resources or capacity to address. And
8:05
the health district was able to step in and fill
8:07
a specific need in that and not duplicate work
8:11
with other departments, but collaborate and work
8:13
closely. And obviously we worked really well
8:16
with your team, Tom, during that time, which
8:18
was super impactful for those folks that we were
8:22
serving. Absolutely. On that note, that's a great
8:25
segue to our next question. Can you go over again
8:28
what kind of services the health district actually
8:30
provides? Yeah, so we provide behavioral health
8:35
services. So we have our connections and kayak
8:38
programs focused on adults, and then our kayak
8:40
program is focused on families and adolescents.
8:43
So we provide brief therapy services, medication
8:47
management. We do referrals to other providers
8:51
and services in the community. We do psychological
8:54
testing. for adolescents, which is a pretty big
8:58
need that we found in the community. We also
9:01
have a team of care coordinators that are working
9:03
with those clients to help connect them to longer
9:06
term behavioral health services and treatment
9:09
programs, and then obviously helping folks with
9:11
day to day needs and social determinants of health
9:13
needs as they go through the behavioral health
9:15
treatment and interventions. We also have our
9:18
family dental clinic, which is a comprehensive
9:20
dental clinic serving low income and folks that
9:24
don't have insurance, dental insurance. And so
9:27
that's been a fantastic resource for the community.
9:31
With that clinic, we also offer what's called
9:34
the GAP program. And it's a specialized program
9:37
where we partner with Poudre Valley Hospital
9:39
to provide dental services under anesthesia for
9:43
individuals that might not be able to receive
9:46
dental care because of physical or developmental
9:48
disabilities. And so that's been a great partnership
9:51
as well. We also have our Larimer Health Connect
9:53
program, which is our insurance navigation program.
9:57
So we have certified navigators that work with
10:01
families, individuals to help get them signed
10:04
up, enrolled for insurance and stay enrolled
10:07
in insurance. So that's a free service that we
10:10
offer. And actually, that service is one of the
10:13
only services that we can offer outside of just
10:16
northern Larimer County and our boundaries because
10:18
we have some state funding for that. And then
10:21
we also have a small prescription assistance
10:23
program where we can help pay for some prescriptions
10:26
for individuals that qualify for that. And then
10:29
we have we have like another Tom mentioned kind
10:32
of an arm. We have another arm of our organization
10:35
that focuses on community impact and some partnership
10:39
work where we do some strategic partnership and
10:43
funding. Like right now, we have a partnership
10:45
with. FMC, and we help fund some of their behavioral
10:49
health staff so that they can have that integrated
10:52
care and clinic that they're offering, which
10:55
is fantastic. And then we have a partnership
10:57
with Salud, and we help pay for a clinical staff
11:01
pharmacist to, again, increase some capacity
11:03
in the community where needed. So we have a team
11:06
that works on some of those partnerships and
11:08
some of our community education and engagement
11:10
work. Wow, all that runs quite the gambit. How
11:13
were those priorities and programs decided on?
11:17
Is that something that comes from a board decision?
11:19
Yeah, I mean, ultimately, our priorities come
11:22
from our board and our board sets our strategic
11:24
plan. We have a three -year strategic plan, but
11:27
that is always informed with our community data,
11:31
our community health assessment data, certainly
11:33
data that we partner and get with the public
11:36
health and environment and other stakeholder
11:39
engagement. resource and gap need assessments
11:43
that we pay attention to or collaborate with,
11:46
but ultimately the board sets the priorities.
11:49
So who is then eligible? It sounds like based
11:52
on the program, eligibility requirements probably
11:55
change a little bit. Are there eligibility requirements?
11:58
Yeah, so every program and service does have
12:02
some unique eligibility requirements, and it's
12:06
a little bit nuanced, but... Largely, we're providing
12:10
services for folks that can't afford them, underinsured,
12:14
uninsured, individuals, low income, folks on
12:17
Medicaid, Medicare. That's kind of our target
12:20
population that we're serving with our services.
12:23
And then again, you mentioned that there's kind
12:25
of a geographic boundary for most of the services
12:28
that you provide. What is the furthest south
12:30
that you guys provide services? It's like the
12:33
southern most part of Fort Collins. We don't
12:36
go into Loveland and we don't. cover into Estes,
12:39
but we do hit some parts of Johnstown, Timnath.
12:43
So that's probably the southern boundary. And
12:47
we go all the way up to the Wyoming border and
12:49
pretty far west into some western rural areas.
12:53
So, Tom, you mentioned that the Larimer County
12:56
Health Department was formed in the 60s by the
12:59
Larimer County Board of Commissioners. How does
13:02
the health department now fit into that larger
13:05
county government structure? There is a unique
13:08
relationship for the health department compared
13:11
to other county departments, and that is we do
13:14
have a separate governing board, the Board of
13:16
Health. It's a five -member board of health appointed
13:18
by the Board of County Commissioners. And the
13:21
Board of Health serves similarly to Bryan's board,
13:24
where they set our strategic plan. They approve
13:26
it. They set the high -level priorities for the
13:29
organization, and they make sure that we are
13:33
following the Colorado. public health services
13:36
and capabilities rules set by the Colorado Board
13:38
of Health. So then, Tom, what services then,
13:41
just for our viewers and to remind them, what
13:44
services do the health department then provide?
13:46
We have programs, maternal, child, and family
13:48
health. So we do have a WIC program. That's our
13:51
supplemental nutrition program for parents and
13:55
babies under the age of five. That's coming through
13:58
the Department of Ag. funding through state health
14:00
departments. So that's a big program we have
14:02
in the maternal child health. We also have our
14:05
MCH block grant that is federally funded. And
14:08
that's really helping families with special health
14:12
situations for their children, navigating the
14:15
system and making sure they're getting the proper
14:17
care for their child. So we work a lot with those
14:20
linkages to access. So there's a great partnership
14:23
with the health district and others. One piece
14:26
is our vital records. When we say vital records,
14:29
that's our death and birth certificates. So any
14:32
of that is through the health department. I would
14:35
also say a big piece of the health department
14:37
is really data driven. We've really transformed
14:39
the health department, working alongside partners
14:42
such as the health district to look at data and
14:44
data trends and do community health assessments
14:47
where we're really surveying where are the gaps
14:49
in the community. And that helps us then make.
14:52
community data -driven strategies, whether it's
14:55
youth mental health that we're working on, whether
14:58
it's access to health care. Every local public
15:01
health agency by state law, the 2008 Public Health
15:05
Act, is required to do a community health assessment
15:08
and a community health improvement plan. That's
15:11
the community's plan, and we work really closely
15:14
with the health district and 60 other partnering
15:17
agencies, including our municipalities. To look
15:20
at the data and say, what are our two priorities?
15:22
And mental health is right up the top as our
15:25
priority. And really looking at connecting folks.
15:29
Social isolation has been... really a driver
15:32
for many poor health outcomes. In fact, the Surgeon
15:35
General a few years ago declared it as an epidemic
15:38
in the United States, that loneliness. And so
15:41
we have made that a priority as a community.
15:43
And that's where I would say Brian's team and
15:46
our team here are working very closely, looking
15:49
at ways we can create more social connections,
15:52
especially for our communities that seem to be
15:55
more isolated, like our veterans, our people
15:57
of color, LGBTQIA. And so we're really looking
16:00
at... That group of looking at youth, we're really
16:03
trying to get to hear their voice, understand
16:05
what the challenges are. But I know Brian's team's
16:08
heavily involved, especially youth mental health.
16:10
Those things are going to be always something
16:13
we're working on. Access for those in more underserved
16:16
communities. We're always looking at ways we
16:18
can provide resources in a manner that everyone
16:22
has that opportunity for a healthy life. We also
16:26
have our public health clinic. We do low to no
16:30
cost reproductive health, whether that's testing,
16:33
treatment, prevention work, and then immunizations
16:35
for predominantly youth or children. Environmental
16:39
health, that's about 25 % of what we do. And
16:42
that's the biggest program there is our restaurant
16:45
inspection. So food safety, anything that serves
16:48
food to the public, we're going to be working
16:50
with that industry, ensuring safe food handling
16:53
practices. You're hearing about the big... outbreak
16:55
right now in the country. So we're trying to
16:58
prevent those here at the local level. We have
17:00
15 ,000 active septic systems treating wastewater,
17:05
and that's under the Board of Health rules. So
17:07
lots of work in environmental health. A big piece
17:11
that we've always have our hands in is communicable
17:14
disease prevention. So there's over 100 reportable
17:18
diseases, whether that's salmonella, whether
17:20
that's West Nile virus, to measles. We have a
17:24
team of what we call disease investigators or
17:26
epidemiologists that are getting those results
17:29
in from our labs or hospitals. And when we get
17:32
a case, then we're doing that contact tracing
17:34
to see where could they have been exposed and
17:36
then reduce the exposure to others. So that's
17:39
a big piece we're doing. Another big piece that's
17:41
a federally funded program through CDC is our
17:43
emergency preparedness. We're always getting
17:46
prepared for the next flood, another pandemic.
17:49
We're ready to... We coordinate what we call
17:53
our ESF -8, Emergency Services Function 8, and
17:56
that's our hospitals, behavioral health, and
17:59
certainly the health district, as we heard in
18:00
past events, such as the pandemic, is right there
18:03
with us. So that's a big piece of it. Also work
18:06
in communications and outreach, making sure the
18:08
community has good information. piece of behavioral
18:13
health, which is interesting. In that core rule,
18:16
it says we, as a local public health agency,
18:18
has to ensure that behavioral health services
18:20
are met at a minimum standard. That's where our
18:23
health district, that's where Longview at the
18:26
behavioral health services with the county, they're
18:28
assuring that. So we don't essentially have to
18:30
provide that service and duplicate it, but we're
18:32
assuring it's being done. So some examples there,
18:35
making sure that we're having healthy, safe environments
18:39
throughout the day. So the health district actually
18:42
helps convene a local group called the Mental
18:45
Health Substance Use Alliance of Larimer County,
18:47
which is a group made up of 20, 30 different
18:51
community partners that participate in all sort
18:53
of look at what are the gaps around our behavioral
18:56
health in Larimer County? And, you know, where
18:59
do we need to focus our attention and some priorities?
19:01
And youth mental health has been a constant priority,
19:05
unfortunately, a focus of that group and resources.
19:10
You know, with the Healthy Kids Colorado data
19:11
coming out recently, and there's been a great
19:14
youth task force, BRL task force that got together
19:17
and got some great local data and local feedback
19:21
around what's needed. I mean, that's definitely
19:23
a population the health district is heavily invested
19:26
in. And what Brian was just saying, the Healthy
19:29
Kids Colorado survey, I think this is a time
19:32
to celebrate. We have made great strides as a
19:36
community with our youth. Still lots of work
19:38
to be done. But it's a sign of hope. Where we
19:42
were four or five years ago was much different.
19:45
When we collaborate, we communicate, we set goals,
19:49
priorities, and we work together, we can do great
19:51
things. And that's just showing some of what
19:54
the health district and the health department
19:55
can offer in our community. Absolutely. And Brian,
19:59
I did want to ask, I know that... The health
20:02
department, I mean, we operate out of, you know,
20:04
two main facilities and we also have a facility
20:06
up in Estes. I was curious, though, about kind
20:08
of the brick and mortar status of the health
20:11
district. Where are you guys located and, you
20:14
know, I guess kind of what facilities do you
20:16
guys have? Yeah. So previously we operated sort
20:20
of across Fort Collins area and a few different
20:23
buildings. We had some services downtown. We
20:26
had some services over west. Fort Collins. And
20:29
then our main campus has always been our Bristlecone
20:32
campus up on North College, North Fort Collins
20:34
area. And we actually consolidated our programs
20:38
and services onto that main campus about a year
20:40
and a half ago, you know, which is which has
20:43
been. Great to try and get all our programs and
20:45
services into one client campus and make it easier
20:48
for folks to navigate. So that's where we're
20:50
operating everything out of now. And then obviously
20:53
some of our programs, our behavioral health programs,
20:55
some of our insurance navigation, we do telehealth,
20:58
we do phone appointments, and we're working on
21:01
some strategies in the future for how do we make
21:04
our services a little more deployable and accessible
21:06
to some of the rural parts of our community,
21:09
knowing that, you know, it's... It's tough to
21:12
sort of get to North Fort Collins if you're living
21:15
in Red Feather, if you're living in Wellington
21:17
and, you know, Timnath. You know, we want to
21:20
be as accessible as we can. That leads me to
21:24
my next question. Could you both explain how
21:26
residents can access the services that you provide?
21:30
Sure. Yeah. So, again, we've got all our services
21:33
located at our main client campus. And so. We
21:38
do walk -ins. You can schedule appointments.
21:40
We do telehealth. We even have some of our staff
21:45
in different programs that we sort of co -locate
21:49
with some other organizations across the community
21:51
where it makes sense, where we've got sort of
21:53
a captive audience. So we've got some good partnerships
21:56
there where we can sort of bring a navigator
22:00
or a care coordinator somewhere else in the community
22:02
and embed them with another community organization.
22:05
Maybe not. you know five days a week but certainly
22:07
to help sort of spread our accessibility yeah
22:11
you could seek our services by uh coming to one
22:14
of our Our buildings in Loveland, Fort Collins,
22:17
and we do a Vestas Park, whether that's a clinic
22:19
or you're seeking maternal child health that
22:22
you can get online. We can certainly make sure
22:24
we get you the information. Not everybody can
22:27
make it between eight and five. Maybe it's weekends
22:30
or evenings. So we are doing back to school clinics.
22:33
Those are getting ramped up for vaccines. We
22:36
really encourage a child to get the measles,
22:38
mumps, rubella and the other required vaccinations
22:41
before school starts. So we're going to be out
22:43
working with. our school districts and community
22:45
partners, where it's a safe environment. We're
22:49
doing more and more of that, trying to get out
22:51
to the community, but also our community health
22:53
improvement plan work. We're making sure folks
22:56
are understanding what that work is, how they
22:58
can get involved, and how that can impact them.
23:01
Yeah, I think that's a great point. And I think
23:04
if you asked our teams, they would highlight
23:06
and reiterate and ask the community, you know,
23:08
community events or getting out in the community
23:12
and sort of sharing about. resources and services,
23:15
our teams would say the health department and
23:18
the health district are at a lot of the same
23:19
ones, you know, around the community and making
23:21
sure that we're, again, educating people, not
23:24
just about our services, but about their health
23:26
and how they can live healthier lives, but also
23:29
how to access our programs and services. In terms
23:33
of clinical services, you both serve a very similar
23:35
population, but with different services. Do you
23:39
often refer patients to each other? Yeah, I mean,
23:42
I know our teams work really closely with Tom's
23:45
teams. You know, the proximity helps, I think,
23:48
that we're located close to each other. But there's
23:51
a lot of cross -referral traffic that goes on
23:54
because we do serve a lot of the same individuals
23:56
and families, obviously different services. But,
23:59
you know, in public health and in community health,
24:03
you often find that an individual, a family.
24:08
often don't just need one service. They need
24:10
multiple services. They need connection to multiple
24:13
programs. Again, trying to address those social
24:15
determinants of health and serve the whole family,
24:18
serve the whole person. And so we see a lot of
24:21
cross -referral traffic across our teams and
24:23
great coordination. And once you include like
24:26
Salute Healthcare Clinic right here on the Northern
24:28
Campus and then Sunrise in Loveland, we're working
24:32
with them as well and referring with those healthcare
24:35
clinics as well. How does the health department
24:38
and the health district work together for community
24:41
assessments like CHIP or CHA? I'd say recently
24:45
the health districts and then our staff here
24:49
at the health department are sitting down and
24:50
saying, what are our priorities? Where are we
24:52
really needing some information, whether that's
24:55
access to health care or whether that's barriers?
24:58
I think we sit down, we prioritize. Those questions,
25:02
we want to make sure they're thoughtful questions
25:03
and meaningful questions that are going to impact
25:06
our work. And then typically the health district
25:09
has been the mechanism of getting it out. I know
25:11
this most recent time we used state nonprofit
25:14
organization to help us get that survey out,
25:18
which I think even got more results. And then
25:21
we work together to digest that data. take that
25:24
into meaningful actions as how we're going to
25:27
move. Would you agree, Brian? Yeah, absolutely.
25:30
I mean, that data sharing piece, but to your
25:34
point, the awareness of, you know, what are your
25:37
priorities? What are your board's priorities
25:39
that you're going to be focused on? What are
25:41
our priorities? And, you know, what are our teams
25:43
seeing in terms of gaps? A good example is some
25:47
recent survey work that we did with our Red Feather
25:50
community. The health department has... you know,
25:53
done great work engaging with that community
25:54
in the past. And so reaching out to Tom and his
25:57
team and saying, we're, you know, we're wanting
26:01
to engage with this community and see how the
26:04
health district can help better support them
26:06
again with some different services and programs
26:08
than what the health department offers. And so
26:10
asking Tom's team, what did you all learn from
26:12
your process? And, you know, again, doing that
26:15
sort of shared learning and, and then analyzing
26:17
the data and then together having conversations
26:21
around, okay, What are our larger community goals
26:25
here? Not just the health department's goals
26:27
and the health district's goals and our board's
26:29
goals, but community health improvement wise.
26:32
What are we trying to achieve and how can we
26:34
sort of leverage and help support each other
26:37
doing that work? I'd say that all drives our
26:39
community health assessment, which then drives
26:41
the community health improvement plan. If you
26:42
work together, those priorities can surface pretty
26:45
quick. And then when you engage our community.
26:49
And you can really get the stories behind the
26:51
data, which then really drives the work. So,
26:54
Brian, you mentioned this previously, but I am
26:57
curious about the health district's involvement
26:59
in things like health care policy or health policy
27:02
in general. Can you tell us a little bit more
27:04
about what you guys do with regards to just maybe
27:07
evolving health policy? I know there's been a
27:09
number of changes at various levels. Yeah, I
27:12
mean, we again, our board sets our policy. initiatives
27:17
and interest for us. And generally speaking,
27:20
if there's policies or bills being proposed that
27:24
are going to make it harder for people to access
27:26
care, health care or services, we're going to
27:30
pay attention to it. A good example from this
27:33
last legislative session, there was a bill that
27:36
was going to cut funding for a program, an insurance
27:39
eligibility program for immigrant communities.
27:42
And that was something that we were interested
27:45
in. taking a stance on and speaking out on. And
27:48
so we follow federal, state, local policy pretty
27:52
closely. And we use our board and our staff to
27:57
figure out where can our voice make an impact
28:01
and where can our voice help support another
28:05
partner work that the health department's doing?
28:07
And, you know, how can the health district, how
28:09
can we help sort of advance that effort? It's
28:11
not, you know, it's not our effort, but again,
28:14
looking sort of holistically at our community
28:16
and how does shaping policy changing policy pushing
28:20
back on bad policy how does that impact the overall
28:23
health of our community and so that's kind of
28:25
how the health district and our board approach
28:27
policy work with our partners and local municipalities
28:31
and local government We now have a health and
28:34
all policies coordinator. So they're looking
28:36
at a variety of policies that would impact public
28:39
health, making sure that accessibility for our
28:42
residents and visitors is a number one priority,
28:45
as well as workforce infrastructure, public health
28:48
system. We're all part of a system, and that's
28:51
federal, state, and local. And anytime pieces
28:53
of a system aren't working, the whole thing isn't
28:55
working. So really looking at how we make sure
28:58
we protect that. And then also local control.
29:03
While we do have these overarching priorities
29:06
and goals set by the state health department,
29:08
that there is flexibility and autonomy that the
29:10
locals can carry those out in the means that's
29:12
the best fit for their community. And so we work
29:15
very closely legislatively on that. Hey, don't
29:18
forget that in Larimer County, there's uniquenesses
29:21
in different cultures compared to other places
29:23
in this wonderful state of ours. And let's allow
29:26
that. Allow us for creativity. But very similar
29:29
to the health district. Anywhere it's impacting
29:32
public health infrastructure, that's a concern
29:35
or hopefully supporting it. Can you give us an
29:38
example then of the current policies that you
29:40
guys are both, I guess, have on your radar right
29:42
now? The HR1 federal changes around Medicaid
29:46
eligibility and some of those requirements, it's,
29:49
you know, essentially going to make it harder
29:50
for folks to stay on Medicaid, be eligible for
29:54
Medicaid, and folks are going to... lose access
29:57
to insurance would mean losing access to health
29:59
care services and so that is something that our
30:01
team is tracking and there's there's some ongoing
30:04
litigation right now with that policy and so
30:07
we're we're paying close attention we're working
30:09
closely with our county department of human services
30:11
health department county behavioral health other
30:14
municipalities on what is our strategic response
30:18
going to be and how how can the health district
30:20
help support and show up and help mitigate the
30:23
impact of that. So that's a big one that's on
30:26
our radar and a lot of folks' radar right now.
30:28
Yeah, for the health department, HR1, making
30:30
sure that there's access for everyone. And there
30:33
could be some very big challenges there. I'd
30:36
also say it's the federal landscape and some
30:38
of the proposed changes. For example, all of
30:42
our emergency preparedness and response funding
30:44
comes through appropriations through the federal
30:46
government to the CDC. There's been discussions
30:49
of rolling that back or cutting it a percentage
30:52
while still having the requirements that we're
30:56
the lead for emergency services function eight
30:58
when there is an emergency so how do you do that
31:02
without the funding so those are big pieces working
31:05
nationally probably more leaning more nationally
31:07
statewide it's been some challenging budget years
31:10
and you know everybody's taking a cut we understand
31:15
that but when you start cutting into certain
31:17
public health funding sources then What do we
31:21
give up? And how does that impact communities?
31:23
So those are the big things we're currently watching.
31:27
Awesome. Well, Tom, Brian, thank you for joining
31:29
us. Yeah. Thank you for having me. That was fun.
31:32
Easy. Do you have a question about public health
31:39
in Larimer County or a topic you'd like us to
31:42
discuss? Let us know. Email us at healthiertogetheratlarimer
31:46
.org. Thanks for listening, Larimer County. Until
31:49
next week, stay well, stay connected, and remember,
31:52
we really are healthier together.