Thursday, February 1, 2024

COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT: Loan repayment program pays qualified loan debt for substance use disorder clinicians

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued the following announcement on Dec. 21.

The Colorado Health Service Corps has awarded $726,100 in student loan repayment funds to 17 substance use disorder health care professionals who will, in exchange, practice in some of Colorado’s most medically underserved communities for the next three years.

The funding, provided by Senate Bill 18-204, is a response to the opioid crisis and other substance use trends across the state. The legislature allowed the Colorado Health Service Corps to expand access to behavioral health care providers in shortage areas of the state and to direct clinical practice incentives in those areas.

Colorado Health Service Corps is a network of health care professionals who serve Colorado communities most in need and seeks to improve access to affordable health services. The Corps uses clinician educational loan debt repayment to motivate more care and more access-to-care for low-income, publicly insured, uninsured and geographically isolated Coloradans.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Primary Care Office is using a new model to determine where behavioral health professional workforce shortages exist. To learn more about the State Designated Health Professional Shortage Area model, visit Board of Health or Secretary of State.

Applications for loan repayment typically are accepted from March to September each year. However, from Jan. 1 to Jan. 31, Colorado Health Service Corps will accept loan repayment applications during a special round specifically for health care providers who are regularly engaged in substance use disorder treatment. To participate, health care professionals must be employed in an outpatient primary care practice in an area of Colorado with a Health Professional Shortage Area designation and work in a Corp approved practice site. For more information, go to Colorado Health Service Corps.

Recently awarded substance use disorder providers and their new communities are listed below.

City                        Health Professional      Practice site                                                  County

Arvada                    Ariana Boggs                 ARTS Westside Center for Change                  Jefferson

Buena Vista             Garett Gebhart             Buena Vista Correctional                               Chaffee

Canon City              Rachel Hollyfield           Fremont Correctional Facility                        Fremont

Denver                    Sylvia Berger                 Sobriety House, Inc.                                      Denver

Denver                    Zane Guilfoyle               Mile High Behavioral Healthcare                    Denver

Denver                    Kelly King                      Sobriety House, Inc.                                      Denver

Denver                    Samuel Parmenter         Addiction Research and Treatment Services    Denver

Denver                    Matthew Price               Mental Health of Denver Recovery Center      Denver

Denver                    Joseph Richardson         Denver Women’s Correctional Facility            Denver

Denver                    Alison Romero               Mile High Behavioral Healthcare                    Denver

Denver                    Kelley Terrell                Mile High Behavioral Healthcare                     Denver

Evans                      Michelle Steinmetz        Monfort Family Sunrise Clinic                        Weld

Glenwood Springs    Barbra Corcoran            Mountain Family Health Centers                    Garfield

Greeley                  Alexander Murphy          North Range Behavioral Health                      Weld

Longmont               Landrey Fagan               Salud Family Health Center                           Boulder

Montrose                Sarah Jennings              The Center for Mental Health, Inc.                 Montrose

Rifle                      Oyen Hoffman                Mountain Family Health Centers                    Garfield

Original source can be found here.