Colorado School of Public Health News and Stories

It seems a simple proposition. The roughly 3,000 nonprofit hospitals in the United States receive tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service. In return, they are expected to provide a “community benefit,” which could come in the form of providing financial assistance to patients, covering the cost of uncompensated care to the uninsured or supporting programs to connect underserved patients to the healthcare services they need.

Tyler Smith | May 19, 2023

I’m not usually a fan of lotteries — they’re a tax on people who are bad at math, my math teacher once joked. But unlike a lottery, which requires buying a ticket, entry into the COVID-19 vaccination sweepstakes is automatic and free for everyone who gets the vaccine.

Matthew Wynia | June 20, 2021

Dean Jonathan Samet, Professor Glen Mays, and Associate Professor Elizabeth Carlton share their concerns about state hospitalization metrics, while expressing optimism about the role that high vaccination rates could play.

Associated Press | May 11, 2021

Matthew Wynia, MD, MPH, professor in the Department Health Systems, Management & Policy and director of the CU Center for Bioethics & Humanities, and other ethicists discuss inequities in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and why giving up your place in line isn’t the best way to address those issues.

5280 | February 08, 2021

The Colorado School of Public Health launched a new website that provides detailed, county-level data tied to the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. The Colorado Population Data Dashboard is designed to help local public health agencies (LPHAs), county commissioners, community leaders, and the general public make more informed short- and long-term decisions about protecting public health. 

Colorado School of Public Health | January 27, 2021

As the population ages, this number is projected to grow to 14 million by 2050 if no significant advances in prevention or treatment are made. Currently no cure exists for dementia and treatment options are limited in their effectiveness. Because of this, screening for dementia is not commonplace, despite the fact that early detection of dementia could allow for more effective treatment.

Colorado School of Public Health | January 22, 2021

The Colorado School of Public Health’s (ColoradoSPH) Department of Health Systems, Management & Policy and the University of Colorado (CU) School of Medicine’s Prevention Research Center for Family & Child Health (PRC), has been awarded a three-year, $500,000 grant under Systems for Action, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to study the alignment of health care and social services with evidence-based nurse-home visiting to enhance maternal and child health. 

The three-year study will examine cross-sector collaboration between health care and social services with Nurse-Family Partnership ® (NFP) – a national evidence-based home-visiting program designed to improve the health and development of first-time, low-income mothers and their babies. The study will measure changes in collaboration over time, explore associations between NFP nurse collaboration with other healthcare and social service providers and program and health measures, and assess the variation in NFP financing mechanisms.

This project will be led by Venice Ng Williams, PhD, MPH (Post-doctoral Researcher at the PRC and ColoradoSPH alumna) and Greg Tung, PhD, MPH (Associate Professor at ColoradoSPH), in collaboration with the Nurse-Family Partnership National Service Office and Jade Woodard, child maltreatment expert and Executive Director of a state-wide nonprofit - Illuminate Colorado. Mandy Allison, MD, MSPH, a practicing Pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Colorado, Co-Director of the PRC, and Associate Professor with CU School of Medicine’s Adult & Child Consortium for Health Outcomes Research and Delivery Science will contribute as co-investigator. David Olds, PhD, Founder of Nurse-Family Partnership, Professor of Pediatrics at CU School of Medicine, and Co-Director of the PRC will serve as an advisor on the study.

An earlier study, soon to be published, led by Dr. Williams shows that the degree to which NFP agencies are structurally integrated with other health care and social service providers and NFP nurse coordination with different provider types is associated with improved program outcomes. According to Dr. Williams, “Care coordination with substance use treatment providers can positively affect client retention and the health of low-income, first-time mothers in NFP, but this coordination is driven by physical integration of space, technology, finances, and other resources.”

“We hope the outcomes of this study will help facilitate better-aligned policies and practices in evidence-based nurse home-visiting that will address social barriers to health, facilitate care coordination, and advance health equity across the United States especially under the current state of events.”

Systems for Action is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that aims to build a “culture of health” by testing new ways of connecting the nation’s fragmented medical, social, and public health systems.

NOTE: Support for this research is provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation. 

Colorado School of Public Health | July 01, 2020

Perhaps by the time you read these words, Colorado’s count of COVID-19 cases will, one hopes, have plateaued or even be falling. There will be mounting political pressure to open Colorado and the country back up. With the exceptions of the intrepid health care workers, farm and grocery workers, warehouse workers, delivery people, municipal employees, and staff deemed essential, we will have been cooped up for more than a month.

Todd Neff | April 20, 2020

Tornadoes in Atlanta, flooding in Detroit, dire hurricane predictions for the Gulf Coast, and wildfires in the country’s interior: 2020’s extreme weather season has already begun. Agencies around the country are rushing to prepare for these potential disasters, despite already being in disaster mode. 

Popular Science | April 13, 2020

Three patients — a 16-year-old boy with diabetes, a 25-year-old mother and a 75-year-old grandfather — are crammed into a hospital triage tent and struggling to breathe. Only one ventilator is left. Who gets it? 

Los Angeles Times | March 20, 2020

A CU Boulder senior reflects on the news of no spring commencement. Plus, how one Aurora lab is working on a COVID-19 vaccine. And, the role state public health agencies play in emergency preparedness. Later, the organization HelpColoradoNow is raising money and finding volunteers to help in the fight against COVID-19. 

Interview starts at 15:44.

Colorado School of Public Health | March 19, 2020

First came handwashing instructions and social distancing. Then came the prohibitions on large events and the shuttering of schools. 

The New York Times | March 13, 2020

Inside a shining new medical quarantine unit in Omaha, Nebraska, eight evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship remain under armed guard as they recover from coronavirus infections. 

Colorado School of Public Health | March 13, 2020

Weaknesses in our public health system driven by chronic underfunding are being exposed as the coronavirus spreads in our communities. Glen Mays, professor of health systems, management and policy at the Colorado School of Public Health, joins us to examine the shocks being sent through our communities during this outbreak, what we can do now to support Coloradans, and what needs to be done to support and rebuild these critical public health functions. Dr. Mays also helps us understand the virus, the response and where to go for reliable information (hint: your local public health agency). 

Colorado School of Public Health | March 13, 2020

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. While survival rates of lung cancer are low for all patients, rates are lower for Black patients, with a 15% five-year all-stages survival rate, compared to 18% for non-Hispanic whites. At diagnosis, Black and Hispanic patients are more often at an advanced stage compared to non-Hispanic whites. Research has shown that factors such as early detection, smoking, biology, environmental and societal factors contribute to these disparities.

Michelle Kuba | March 05, 2020

CDC officials on Tuesday warned that outbreaks of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 in the U.S. are likely, and that households, schools, healthcare providers and businesses should begin preparing. As part of this planning, it is important to recognize that protective resources and capabilities are not distributed evenly across the U.S. Public health protections are largely state and local responsibilities, provided through a constellation of public agencies and private organizations. In preparing for COVID-19, healthcare providers, first responders, and members of the public need to be aware of the emergency preparedness capabilities that exist in your area.

Glen Mays | February 26, 2020

Glen Mays, PhD, who specializes in preparedness and health systems, policy and economics, has been named Chair of the Department of Health Systems, Management and Policy in the Colorado School of Public Health following a national search. He begins his position on June 1, 2019. 

Colorado School of Public Health | May 30, 2019