Rural Health

As part of Colorado’s Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) effort, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is building Rural Chronic Disease Care Networks (RCDCNs). The RCDCNs will be comprised of community, public health, and health care organizations and provide infrastructure to improve access to chronic disease prevention and management programs, specifically diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, pediatric obesity, asthma, COPD, colorectal cancer, Alzheimer's Disease and related dementia and tobacco use.

Rural Chronic Disease Care Hubs will lead and coordinate RCDCN activities within specified geographical catchment areas across the state. The RCDCNs and Hubs will be guided by the Rural Chronic Disease Consortium, a statewide multi-stakeholder decision making group responsible for identifying appropriate catchment areas, identifying applicants to serve as Rural Chronic Disease Care Hubs as well as sustainability planning. The purpose of this model is to establish a coordinated, regional system for chronic disease prevention and management in rural and frontier Colorado, improving access to evidence-based programs and strengthening connections between clinical and community-based services.

The Farley Health Policy Center and the Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center are conducting a readiness assessment to gather information to better understand current state and potential gaps in chronic disease prevention and treatment services across rural Colorado, assess community readiness to collaborate within the structure of the Rural Chronic Disease Network and inform the Rural Chronic Disease Consortium in identifying potential Hubs to lead this work across the state. The Farley Health Policy Center and CAMPHIRE are partnering to facilitate the Rural Chronic Disease Consortium.

Colorado’s rural and frontier hospitals face substantial challenges, including ensuring financial viability, serving geographically isolated populations, and stimulating the local economy. The goal of the Colorado Rural Futures project is to create an evidence-informed policy roadmap to strengthen these facilities and catalyze needed change.

The Colorado Rural Futures initiative, led by eight rural hospital CEOs, has developed a concrete set of policy recommendations designed to maintain and sustain rural hospitals statewide. After extensive research conducted by the Farley Center, including a literature review, key informant interviews, legislative scans of peer states, key stakeholder focus groups, and quantitative analysis of hospital discharge data, among other methods, the Farley Center and the Rural Futures team have published the results. This report analyzes this data to prioritize recommendations with actionable strategies at the state, federal, and organizational levels.

We all have a role to play in saving our rural hospitals: download the report to learn more about policy changes that could help.

Since early 2024, the Farley Center has partnered with Sunflower Foundation to advance behavioral health integration in select rural health clinics across Kansas.

Kansas, like the rest of the country, faces growing behavioral health (BH) provider shortages and BH care needs. Integrating BH services into primary care supports a whole person approach to patient care, addressing mental health and substance use disorders (SUDs), life stressors, and health behaviors in settings where patients most often seek care. There have been multiple private and public investments and efforts to advance integrated care and increase access to BH services through integration and community partnerships. To better understand current challenges and opportunities, the Farley Center conducted key informant interviews for the Sunflower Foundation and the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS). The finished report is a synthesis of key policy insights to be used by the Sunflower Foundation and the Wichita State University Community Engagement Institute to guide the state’s system stakeholders in identifying priorities for improving access to BH care across Kansas.

The Farley Center continues to partner with the Sunflower Foundation toward implementing elements of the Building Blocks of Behavioral Health Integration Framework through the mechanism of the Kansas Integrated Care Learning Network, supporting Rural Health Clinics and Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers across Kansas.

In 2021, the Farley Center and the Colorado Hospital Association partnered to create an evidence-based playbook designed to support rural hospitals and primary care practices as they navigated ongoing COVID-19 related challenges. The practical resource incorporated case-based learning and strategic thinking prompts, as well as findings from the literature and key informant interviews from more than 30 rural health care leaders and patients in Colorado. Rather than guiding readers on exactly what to do, the playbook encouraged rural health care leaders to develop the skills needed to critically examine and own their solutions. During the release of this playbook, State Policy Director Lauren S. Hughes, MD, MPH, MSc, MHCDS, FAAFP, published and participated in earned media related to difficulties specific to the rural context during the COVID-19 pandemic.