The Colorado Community Health Network (CCHN) represents Colorado’s 15 Community Health Centers (CHCs) that together are the backbone of the primary health care safety-net in Colorado. Since its inception in 1982, CCHN has made significant strides in ensuring that Colorado’s low income residents have access to affordable, high quality, primary health care. CCHN focus includes:
1) Policy Support – Educating policy makers and stakeholders about the unique needs of Community Health Centers and their patients
2) Health Center Operations – Focuses on growing, strengthening, and sustaining CHCs in Colorado and providing the resources to do so
3) Clinical Quality – Supporting CHCs in maintaining the highest quality care
4) Community Health Centers (CHCs)  – Federally designated entities that provide comprehensive primary care services, dental and mental health services –  regardless of ability to pay.
Stastics about CHCs
Colorado CHCs provided more than 1.8 million medical, dental, and mental health visits in 2010.*

  • 15 CHCs operate 131 clinic sites in 34 Colorado counties and care for patients living in 57 counties.
  • 14 CHCs operate 43 dental clinic sites in 23 Colorado counties and provided more than 192,000 visits to more than 79,000 patients.*

Colorado CHCs care for:

  • 1/3 of all low-income uninsured in Colorado,
  • 1/3 of all Medicaid enrollees, and
  • 1/3 of all CHP+ enrollees.*

Colorado CHCs:

  • Care for working families: over 94% of patients served have family incomes below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level ($44,100 per year for a family of four in 2010).*
  • Provide primary and preventive care to more than 192,000 Colorado children.*
  • Provide high quality care and participate in innovative disease management programs.
  • Employ more than 3,300 people in high-need communities across the state.

A recent study found that Colorado Medicaid clients who use CHCs are one-third less likely than Medicaid clients of private fee-for-service providers to have an emergency room visit, an inpatient hospitalization, or a preventable hospital admission.+
* Fact source: 2010 Uniform Data System.
+Jennifer Rothkopf et al., “Medicaid Patients Seen At Federally Qualified Health Centers Use Hospital Services Less Than Those Seen By Private Providers,” Health Affairs 30:7 (July 2011).
For more information visit: www.cchn.org