What’s Happening at CRN?

Get the latest CRN news on our monthly newsletter page!

Episode 20: September 2024

Network-Wide CRN User News

CRN Pro-Tip

Did you know you can search for a partial last name when searching for a client in CRN? When an individual has a difficult last name to spell, or if it’s hyphenated, you can search by a partial last name. For example, if the person’s last name is “Martinez-Gonzolaz” and you are not sure if there is a hyphen, or how to spell “Gonzolaz” you can type “Mart” into the search box, and you will get a return result that shows all possible matches. This is a great way to ensure you find the person you are searching for.

Upcoming Trainings

Utilization

Network-Wide Utilization Stats
(to see region-specific numbers, scroll to the bottom)

Regional News

West Mountain

Tina Hughes,
Community Advisor
West Mountain Region
Contact

West Mountain News

Community Spotlight West Mountain

Building financial resilience and wealth across generations

Savings Collaborative is a nonprofit organization with a mission to build financial resilience and wealth across generations. Our multicultural services include a multilingual savings app with built-in tips, incentives, basic financial literacy instruction, and professional one-on-one financial coaching making it easy for people left outside the mainstream banking system to save money and develop healthy financial habits. Our community ambassadors and certified financial coaches provide personalized guidance and support to help you reach your goals faster.

Local community ambassadors are the heart — and the magic — of Savings Collaborative:
Ambassadors build relationships with members, make saving money more accessible, and financial management less intimidating. They become trusted partners in the savings journey.

Personalized Financial Coaching and Debt Management Services:
Our certified financial coaches work with you personally to meet your unique needs. They can help you plan, budget, increase savings, manage and reduce debt, improve credit scores, navigate resources, and more.
From managing housing and student loans to navigating job transitions and planning for retirement, we cover a wide spectrum of financial issues. Our ultimate goal is to help you realize your financial aspirations.

Partner with us:
Together — little by little, family by family, community by community — we are helping to build economic resilience and financial well-being.

CRN Use: Receives referrals, Care Team participation

Welcome Our New CRN Partners in West Mountain!

Nuclear Care Partners, LLC

Website Click Here

At Nuclear Care Partners we commit to creating customized care solutions to meet your unique health needs, to finding a caregiver that fits your lifestyle and treats you with kindness and respect, and to finding the best solution for YOU. If we are unable to provide this for you, we will support you in finding a provider who can meet your needs.

Nuclear Care Partners provides in-home services exclusively to former DOL/DOE workers who have benefits through the EEOICPA, FECA, or RECA programs. We believe every former atomic worker deserves the highest level of care.

CRN Use: Receives Email referrals through CRN

Regions Served: All of Colorado

Lifespan Psychiatry of Colorado

Website Click Here

We serve over 1800 clients in CO, mainly on the Western Slope. We are the only REMS-certified outpatient treatment center between Denver, Albuquerque, and Salt Lake City. We accept patients regardless of their ability to pay. We offer medication management, and psychotherapy including EMDR, case management. We offer on-site, street-style visits at nursing homes, patient homes, shelters, and community partner offices.

Services offered:
– Outpatient psychiatric medication management
– Psychotherapy including EMDR;
– Esketamine (Spravato) outpatient treatment center
– Case management
– Nursing-level care coordination
– Long-acting injectables (LAI)
– Lab services for blood work

Appointments are available via telehealth, in-office, or on-site. In-person visits are available at our office located at 2140 N. 12th St. in Grand Junction, CO
On-site visits at a mutually agreed upon location of choosing–your home, your office, etc.
Telehealth visits via secure remote access.
CO Medicaid offers free taxi rides to and from medical appointments

CRN Use: Sending and receiving referrals, Care Team participation, Care Coordination

Regions Served: All of Colorado

A Network Partner Organization has users in CRN and may accept electronic referrals through CRN

An Associated Partner does not have users in CRN, but accepts email/fax referrals that are sent though CRN

Mesa County

Angela Rodriguez 
Community Advisor
Mesa County
Contact

Wade Montgomery
Community Advisor
Mesa County
Contact

Mesa County News

Welcome Our New CRN Partners in Mesa County!

Community Spotlight Mesa County

Believes in housing for all and helps people regain their footing when they are most vulnerable

The Grand Junction Housing Authority believes in housing for all and helps people regain their footing when they are most vulnerable. Grand Junction Housing Authority provides over 785 apartments which are affordable to Grand Valley residents and range from 30-60% of area’s median income. The Grand Junction Housing Authority also provides rental assistance in the form of vouchers to 1,400 individuals and families to help pay rent in suitable, safe apartment homes across the community. The supportive services team offers service and care coordination to households served by Grand Junction Housing Authority programs by providing wrap-around support to help older adults remain healthy and age in place. Our Family Self-Sufficiency and Family Resource Program empowers families to become self-sufficient.

Referrals for housing assistance are accepted through CRN, and barriers to entry can be removed when sent electronically. Referrals for supportive services in Grand Junction Housing Authority programs are also accepted through CRN. Our team utilizes CRN to send referrals to community agencies to assist with needed services. When assessing for social determinants of health needs, the team sends referrals to Community Food Bank for food assistance and PACE for next-level support for older adults.

CRN Use: Send and receives referrals, Care Team participation

Abode Home Health of Grand Junction

Website Click Here

Abode Home Health of Grand Junction allows patients to recover from an illness in the comfort of their own homes. The patient can remain independent, continue their daily routine, and recover with a low level of stress. We want patients and loved ones to be confident in the care they receive so we evaluate their homes during the initial assessment to ensure there are not any hazards. Home Care focuses on:

– Helping patients recover from an illness, injury, or surgery
– Providing patient and caregiver education
– Increasing independence or managing a chronic, ongoing illness (such as heart disease, pulmonary disease, or kidney disease)

CRN Use: Accepts fax referrals through CRN

Regions Served: Mesa County

Abode Hospice of Grand Junction

Website Click Here

Abode Hospice cares for the terminally ill and helps patients live their final days to the fullest, as free as possible from disabling pain and mental anguish. Abode Hospice offers physician services, nursing care, pain & symptom management, medication coordination, care teams, pharmacy & medical equipment supplies, bereavement programs, medical & spiritual services, volunteer services, and routine, respite, general inpatient, and continuous care for patients.

CRN Use: Accepts fax referrals through CRN

Regions Served: Mesa County

Nuclear Care Partners, LLC

Website Click Here

At Nuclear Care Partners we commit to creating customized care solutions to meet your unique health needs, to finding a caregiver that fits your lifestyle and treats you with kindness and respect, and to finding the best solution for YOU. If we are unable to provide this for you, we will support you in finding a provider who can meet your needs.

Nuclear Care Partners provides in-home services exclusively to former DOL/DOE workers who have benefits through the EEOICPA, FECA, or RECA programs. We believe every former atomic worker deserves the highest level of care.

CRN Use: Receives Email referrals through CRN

Regions Served: All of Colorado

Lifespan Psychiatry of Colorado

Website Click Here

We serve over 1800 clients in CO, mainly on the Western Slope. We are the only REMS-certified outpatient treatment center between Denver, Albuquerque, and Salt Lake City. We accept patients regardless of their ability to pay. We offer medication management, and psychotherapy including EMDR, case management. We offer on-site, street-style visits at nursing homes, patient homes, shelters, and community partner offices.

Services offered:
– Outpatient psychiatric medication management
– Psychotherapy including EMDR;
– Esketamine (Spravato) outpatient treatment center
– Case management
– Nursing-level care coordination
– Long-acting injectables (LAI)
– Lab services for blood work

Appointments are available via telehealth, in-office, or on-site. In-person visits are available at our office located at 2140 N. 12th St. in Grand Junction, CO
On-site visits at a mutually agreed upon location of choosing–your home, your office, etc.
Telehealth visits via secure remote access.
CO Medicaid offers free taxi rides to and from medical appointments

CRN Use: Sending and receiving referrals, Care Team participation, Care Coordination

Regions Served: All of Colorado

A Network Partner Organization has users in CRN and may accept electronic referrals through CRN

An Associated Partner does not have users in CRN, but accepts email/fax referrals that are sent though CRN

Delta/ Montrose/ Gunnison

Cherie Schmitz
Senior Community Advisor
Southwest Region
Contact

Delta/ Montrose/ Gunnison News

Community Spotlight Delta/Montrose/Gunnison Region

A resilient regional food system that sustains the land, producers, and healthy communities

Valley Food Partnership (VFP) is a non-profit organization serving the Western Slope with a vision of a resilient regional food system that sustains the land, producers, and healthy communities; we do that through connecting local agriculture and local people. Since 2011, we have recognized that to achieve this tall order, VFP cannot have a singular focus but rather must have an ecosystem of programs and services working together, alongside stakeholders, across the food system. We employ education, access, and community building as our strategies.

We provide education to producers on regenerative agricultural practices and support the next generation with training in whole-farm holistic decision-making and business acumen. VFP also provides education for consumers on ways to access local food, as well as cooking and nutrition education. Access is an important issue for the next generation of producers – access to education, market channels, social connections, and land. Access is equally important to consumers – especially those with fewer resources. We support access by providing assistance programs at the Montrose Farmers Market and produce incentive vouchers through our cooking and nutrition program.

Lastly, in a time when people are feeling divided yet craving connection, VFP provides intentional community-building opportunities at the Montrose Farmers Market, through farmer connection events, in the nutrition/cooking classes, and at the annual Western Colorado Soil Health, Food, and Farm Forum. VFP decided to join CRN as a way to ensure more health care and social service providers are aware of our Local Farmacy Rx (LFRx) program. LFRx fosters partnerships between nutrition educators, local farmers, social services, and health care providers to increase the consumption of local fruits and vegetables and improve the health of individuals in the Montrose and Olathe communities at risk of developing a diet-related disease and/or experiencing food insecurity. We do this through receiving referrals from health care and social service providers, facilitating Cooking Matters curriculum for cooking and nutrition education, and then distributing $50 vouchers per class to participants that they are able to redeem at a variety of local food outlets for fresh, local fruits and vegetables. Families tell us they love learning new recipes, how to cook healthy at home on a budget, and have increased access to more nutritious foods.

VFP joined CRN to ensure more health care and social service providers know about our Local Farmacy Rx (LFRx) program.

CRN Use: Sends and receives referrals

Welcome Our New CRN Partners in Montrose/Delta/Gunnison!

Nuclear Care Partners, LLC

Website Click Here

At Nuclear Care Partners we commit to creating customized care solutions to meet your unique health needs, to finding a caregiver that fits your lifestyle and treats you with kindness and respect, and to finding the best solution for YOU. If we are unable to provide this for you, we will support you in finding a provider who can meet your needs.

Nuclear Care Partners provides in-home services exclusively to former DOL/DOE workers who have benefits through the EEOICPA, FECA, or RECA programs. We believe every former atomic worker deserves the highest level of care.

CRN Use: Receives Email referrals through CRN

Regions Served: All of Colorado

WIC Montrose County

Website Click Here

WIC provides no-cost food assistance, nutrition education, and breastfeeding support for pregnant women, new moms, babies, and children up to age five.  WIC is also a great source of information and referrals.

CRN Use: Sending and receiving electronic referrals and participating in Care Teams

Regions Served: Montrose

Lifespan Psychiatry of Colorado

Website Click Here

We serve over 1800 clients in CO, mainly on the Western Slope. We are the only REMS-certified outpatient treatment center between Denver, Albuquerque, and Salt Lake City. We accept patients regardless of their ability to pay. We offer medication management, and psychotherapy including EMDR, case management. We offer on-site, street-style visits at nursing homes, patient homes, shelters, and community partner offices.

Services offered:
– Outpatient psychiatric medication management
– Psychotherapy including EMDR;
– Esketamine (Spravato) outpatient treatment center
– Case management
– Nursing-level care coordination
– Long-acting injectables (LAI)
– Lab services for blood work

Appointments are available via telehealth, in-office, or on-site. In-person visits are available at our office located at 2140 N. 12th St. in Grand Junction, CO
On-site visits at a mutually agreed upon location of choosing–your home, your office, etc.
Telehealth visits via secure remote access.
CO Medicaid offers free taxi rides to and from medical appointments

CRN Use: Sending and receiving referrals, Care Team participation, Care Coordination

Regions Served: All of Colorado

A Network Partner Organization has users in CRN and may accept electronic referrals through CRN

An Associated Partner does not have users in CRN, but accepts email/fax referrals that are sent though CRN

Helpful Resources for September 2024

from the Colorado Regional Health Connector Program–> 

Funding Opportunities

  • Funding (application period 8/20 – 9/15) – RM-PHTC will be offering mini-grants for another funding cycle in 2024. Funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), there is a total of $60,000 available to support 3-12 organizations in providing leadership learning opportunities for public and community health professionals. Funding Amount: $5,000 – $20,000. These funds are intended to develop and offer a wide range of leadership learning opportunities. The learning opportunity must be completed by June 30,2025. Eligible entities: non-profit organizations, state associations of city and county health officials, community health centers, or academic institutions in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, or Wyoming. The detailed Call for Proposals, including eligibility criteria and application guidelines, is linked. Informational Webinar: August 27th at 12pm MT (Register on Zoom here). Office Hour: September 5th at 12pm MT (Register on Zoom here).
  • Funding (due 9/19) – Accelerating research through international network-to-network collaborations. Goals of this program are to 1) leverage prior NSF support for building research capacity towards activities that launch international research network of networks (NoN) that will lead to an accelerated advancement of an area of science after the award period and 2) recruit and foster a diverse and internationally competent US-based workforce trained in conducting and leading multi-team international collaboration. Any area funded by the National Science Foundation is eligible
  • Funding (due 10/15) – Colorado Health Foundation has two upcoming funding opportunities: Advocacy and Justice with Communities of Color and Building a Pipeline of Primary Care Providers to Serve Diverse Communities
  • Funding (due 2/26/25) – Strategic prevention framework. The purpose of this program is to help reduce the onset and progression of substance misuse and its related problems by supporting the development and delivery of community based substance misuse and prevention and mental health promotion services.
  • Funding (applications accepted on an ongoing basis) – Hearst Foundations Health Grants. The Hearst Foundations provide grants for organizations working to address access to healthcare for high-need populations, healthcare professional shortages, evolving healthcare demands, and medical research.
  • Funding (applications accepted on an ongoing basis) – National Grassroots Organizing Program. Two-year unrestricted, general operating support grants of up to $30,000 per year, with an average grant size of $20,000 per year, to small, constituent-led grassroots organizations throughout the US and its territories.
  • Funding (applications accepted on an ongoing basis) – Economic Development Assistance. Funding to support the implementation of regional economic development, including public works projects and job creation projects. Past projects have included funding for water and wastewater projects in hospitals and healthcare facilities and road infrastructure projects that would support the expansion of healthcare facilities. Rural tribal and other underserved communities are of priority.
  • Funding (applications accepted on an ongoing basis) – Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Grants for innovative projects that are working to build health equity, ensuring that everyone has access to the care they need and all families have the opportunity to make healthier choices.

Webinars, Trainings & Conferences

  • The Suicide Prevention and Risk Management team at TRAILS, a nonprofit organization that equips schools with the training and resources they need to provide evidence-based and culturally responsible mental health support to their students. As part of their comprehensive suicide prevention programming, TRAILS is hosting a free webinar open to anyone who is interested in learning how to best keep the youth in their communities safe from suicide. This free educational webinar will be held on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 4 pm ET/1 pm PT over Zoom. See this flyer for an overview of this webinar and how to register.
  • Webinar: Join the Institute for Public Strategies on September 18th for the webinar “Empowering Youth: Coalition Building, Event Planning, and Advocacy”. Topics discussed will include the critical role youth coalitions play in addressing social issues and effecting change, best practices for organizing impactful youth-led events, and effective advocacy techniques and strategies for engaging with local government officials and community leaders.
  • Webinar: LGBTQ+ Youth Suicide Risk Reduction- LAB 1: LGBTQ+ Youth and the Self-Harm Continuum. Though suicide touches every community, the stunningly disproportionate rate of self-induced deaths among LGBTQ+ youth is an ongoing emergency. Family rejection, trauma, addiction, social stigma and discrimination, and prejudice-related mental health concerns have enormous impact on suicidal ideation. This three-part lab series will highlight some of the pressures that lead sexual and gender minority youth to suicide, what factors elevate or lower self-harm risk, as well as clinical and community-based interventions to help build resilience. Learners will have ample time to practice with case scenarios and integrate new skills into their practice serving LGBTQ+ adolescents and emerging adults. Lab 1: September 12th 11am-1pm MT.
  • Mark your calendar and plan to join The 2024 Colorado Food is Medicine Summit. This one-day event brings together policy and practice leaders from across the state to engage in insightful discussions and explore strategies to increase access to essential nutrition programs. Join us at The Summit and help continue this vital momentum! Registration details and cost to follow. Event Details: Wednesday, December 11, 2024, 8am-4pm, History Colorado Center
  • Virtual: The 3rd annual People’s Public Health Conference will take place October 25-27 online. Review last year’s program book for details on the speakers featured in 2023. This year’s registration can be found here.
  • Virtual: BHI/1302 Practice Learning Community, Topic – Integrating Behavioral Health in Rural Practices, Speaker – Lauren Hughes, Liz Frias. Friday, October 4th, 2024, 12pm to 1pm. Meeting Link: JOIN
  • Virtual: 10 week virtual cohort for white allies to dive deeper into equity work, begins October 14th. See attached pdf for QR code and this link for more info: https://www.invisibleparadigms.com/cohorts 

News & Resources:

  • CoPPCAP, the Colorado Pediatric Psychiatry Consultation and Access Program: Zero counties in Colorado have a sufficient number of child & adolescent psychiatrists for their populations. To address this severe workforce shortage, CoPPCAP was launched in September 2019.  CoPPCAP provides access to board certified child and adolescent psychiatrists for Colorado’s primary care clinicians for peer-to-peer consultations.  CoPPCAP aims to increase the ability and comfort of primary care clinicians to provide basic mental health assessment and treatment for their child and adolescent patients via consultation by licensed child and adolescent psychiatrists, education, and community resources.  All pediatric primary care and family medicine clinics qualify for services.  There is no cost to enroll in CoPPCAP and there are no insurance-based restrictions for consultation or requests for resources.  Please watch our brief informative video and visit our website.
  • The Colorado Sun featured an op-ed on the need for a unified public health response to firearm violence prevention in Colorado, featuring Jonathan McMillan from Trailhead.
  • PROSPER is your partner in perinatal mental health, this program aims to enhance healthcare professionals’ skill and capacity to conduct universal screening, assessment, and treatment within routine obstetric and primary care settings.  This is achieved primarily through real-time phone access to reproductive psychiatrists, and one-time face-to-face patient consultations for diagnostic clarity and to guide treatment in the obstetric or medical home. Learn more at www.coloradoprosper.org. You can also Contact Us at 1.888.910.0153, press #3 and Sara Collins, Resource and Referral Specialist, will answer or you may leave a message, and our team will respond within the same business day. See attached for one pager to share with others who would benefit from service. There is also an Educational Opportunity (with CME credit!): Sign up now  (https://echocolorado.org/echo/perinatal-mental-health/) for our free Perinatal Mental Health ECHO series – virtual, Tuesdays Noon- 1PM. Starts September 10th. .
  • Innovative Workforce Projects (IWP) was formed in 2021 to offer apprenticeship services as the sponsor and Related Technical Instruction (RTI) provider for a nationally-approved Registered Apprenticeship (RA) program through the US Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship for the Medical Assistant occupation.  Since then, IWP has entered into partnerships with 21 employers and other entities, including four in Colorado. RA is an employer-driven training model that combines paid on-the-job training (OJT) with concurrent classroom instruction.  This “earn and learn” approach helps workers learn new skills and helps businesses recruit and retain a highly skilled workforce by growing their own talent.  Businesses can choose to hire new workers or select current employees to join apprenticeship programs.  Additionally, the Department of Labor has found that apprenticeship helps increase diversity in the healthcare workforce by expanding opportunities for skill attainment to traditionally underserved populations. Currently, IWP’s MA program is approved by two nationally accredited certifying bodies: American Medical Technologist (AMT), which issues the Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) certification, and the National Healthcareer Association (NHA), which issues the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) certification. The IWP programs utilizes a “classroom” element that is completed online during off hours from the clinic, which allows for maximum flexibility to build program structures that best fit the needs of each employer.  It eliminates any restrictions on minimum or maximum cohort sizes and offers rolling start dates that match the employer’s hiring patterns.  This has been helpful in working across a broad spectrum of organization types, from large statewide healthcare systems to smaller clinics serving rural communities. While the apprentices are working their way through the material, they are offered support, guidance and encouragement from the IWP team, as well as updates on their progress.  Biweekly updates are also provided to the employer (and other partners as applicable) regarding the status of all apprentices from their organization. For more information, please reach out to Jake McClelland at (702) 376-3892 or jmcclelland@innovativeworkforceprojects.com.