of the Citizens Health Advisory Council is health care
in our community will emphasize preventive health care, will be adequately
funded and staffed, will reach those not receiving care, and community
members will take responsibility for their own health and the health of
others.
Community Meetings Handout
The Primary Health Care Community Coalition was formed in late 2006 in response to the announcement by Valley Wide Health Systems that it would be closing the Durango offices in spring of 2007 rather than the previously targeted summer of 2008. The resulting crisis directly involved approximately 10,000 La Plata County residents currently being seen by Valley Wide would be without a primary care provider until some solution to our health care access crisis could be identified and implemented. Indirectly, consequences of this crisis would soon be felt by all La Plata County residents as well as businesses, health care providers, and the local economy.
Concerned citizens, most of whom had been involved in defining and addressing our long term health care needs, joined together to form the PHCCC as a working group with a two part focus: finding a short term answer for the crisis created by the closing of the Valley Wide and developing a long term, sustainable primary health care delivery system for La Plata County. Members of the group came from among individuals who had been appointed to the local Valley Wide Advisory Committee; members of the Citizens Health Advisory Council; and representatives of San Juan Basin Health Department, Southwest Colorado Mental Health Center, local primary care practitioners, Mercy Regional Medical Center, and the City of Durango and La Plata County.
The PHCCC recognized as its immediate goal the formation of a clinic to provide basic care to those individuals released by Valley Wide or otherwise without access to a primary care provider. Mercy Regional Medical Center came forward with a plan to create such a “stop gap” clinic if financial support for its operations could be found.
The PHCCC prepared and presented a proposal to the City of Durango and La Plata County for funding of an interim health care clinic as proposed by Mercy Regional Medical Center and – to meet the Coalition’s second objective - the engagement of a consultant to conduct a study of existing primary care access findings and design a primary care improvement plan. Both the City of Durango and La Plata County voted in support of funding these two projects.
A Request for Proposals was developed and distributed to identified health care consulting firms, proposals were reviewed by a key committee of the PHCCC, two of the responding firms were interviewed by Coalition members, and the project consultant – John Snow, Inc (JSI) – was selected.
The PHCCC continues to work closely with JSI as it collects pertinent health care data and will review the health care models and suggestions JSI brings forward at the conclusion of its analyses. The Coalition will participate in the presenting of the JSI findings to La Plata County residents for review and comment. The PHCCC will then engage in bringing together groups and individuals to work toward the implementation of the health care delivery system as recommended by JSI and amended by public input.