Seeking solutions to JeffCo health concerns

A group of Jefferson County health professionals and community leaders have charted a course forward for improving the mental and physical health of the community.

The recently completed Jefferson County Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) zeroes in on mental and physical health as its top priorities, along with a series of objectives, strategies to act on those objectives and ways to measure results.

But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a third priority, accountability for county funds supporting service providers, will have to be addressed at a later time. The pandemic has also caused the Jefferson County Public Health Department to take a step back from leading the CHIP process, but the plan is for the department to return to that role once the pandemic has subsided, according to Boulder City Council President Drew Dawson, who along with Alison Richardson with the Jefferson Local Development Corporation, took over the leadership of the steering committee once the pandemic began to stress the health department.