It’s a big and complex job. Thankfully, we’re not alone in this work.
Our nonprofit, legislative, medical, and community partners are all experts focusing on particular geographic areas or populations. Our members and donors provide critical support that drives our mission forward. Our board and staff work hard every day to ensure all Coloradans have the opportunity to access good health care and good health. Combining the expertise and motivation of all these changemakers with the empowered voices of our fellow Coloradans is the most effective way to achieve health equity and create lasting change in our communities. We lead collaboration that confronts challenges from all sides. In doing so, we find commonsense solutions that transform the health and lives of our neighbors and make Colorado stronger.
Achieving Health Equity
All Coloradans experience challenges with the health care system at one point or another in their lives; however, data show that some Coloradans are at more of a disadvantage than others. Certain populations experience greater health inequities due to historic and systemic injustices present within our society and our health care system. Achieving health equity means eliminating preventable disparities based on race or ethnicity, age, ability, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, or religion.
We envision a Colorado where everyone has access to care and the opportunity to live a healthy life. We have work to do reach that goal.
Learn about health inequities in Colorado:
- INDEX – Access to Care in Colorado
- REPORT – Health Insurance Coverage by ZIP Code
- INFOGRAPHICS – Health Perspectives Series
Who Are the “Medically Underserved?”
Center for Health Progress was originally founded as the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved. The “medically underserved” are people with life circumstances that make them susceptible to falling through the cracks in our health care system–the same people we work with and for as Center for Health Progress. However, we came to realize that the term “medically underserved” was inadequately capturing the breadth of the challenge and was minimizing the strengths of the very population we care most about. And, health equity is bigger than the health care system. So, we made an important change to choose our words more carefully. And we hope you’ll join us.
Learn more about how we’re working to ensure our health care system works for all Coloradans.