CU Anschutz In The News

A veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who suffered two traumatic brain injuries while overseas now serves as a resource for others trying to recover from the same experience at the Marcus Institute for Brain Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. James Kelly is the executive director of the Marcus Institute for Brain Health on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Milo said Kelly helped him to recover from his traumatic brain injury (TBI) and that eventually lead him to work for the doctor at the institute. 

A partnership between the Sheridan School District and CU’s College of Nursing is improving access to health care for students. The reach of the medical staff goes far beyond those appointments. Integrating the clinic into the Sheridan School campus provides access that Superintendent Pat Sandos says is invaluable for his community. “We have 1,350 kids, about 85% are free and reduced in some form and then we have a homeless population that’s about one out of four kids,” he said.

Dental students serve veterans at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. As a decorated Vietnam veteran on a fixed income, Berdeaux qualified to get discounted care from the dental students at the CU School of Dental Medicine through its Heroes Clinic on the Anschutz Medical Campus. “And then I found out he was in the military," Berdeaux said. "There’s an immediate bond between anyone that serves. It doesn’t matter where, what unit you are. There’s a bond that’s just there. That provided a trust that he didn’t have to earn it was just there." 

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus researchers launched a website to help people make difficult decisions about living with dementia. An estimated 5 million people in the U.S. are living with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. The new online resource, Safety in Dementia, is intended to help caregivers — or, if possible, people in the early stages of dementia — plan for the future before the illness progresses to the point where, for example, a person with Alzheimer’s disease mistakes their spouse for an intruder and reaches for a firearm.

The old Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, now part of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, is one of the most iconic buildings in Colorado. Those who work in the former hospital believe ghosts are haunting its halls. The building opened in 1941. It was the largest building in Colorado at the time of its construction. Today, workers insist something strange is happening.

The Colorado School of Public Health, a coalition of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado that stands as the only accredited school of public health in the Rocky Mountain region, has dropped Graduate Record Examinations, popularly known as the GREs, from its admissions requirements. The move is part of a growing national trend against the use of standardized test scores as a prerequisite to college entry at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Abortion rates have dropped again in Colorado, and health authorities are crediting increased access to birth control statewide. Another contributing factor: the so-called morning-after pill has been available over the counter at Colorado pharmacies since 2013. “The goal has always been access,” said Gina Moore, assistant dean for clinical and professional affairs at the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy. “We are just really pleased.”

Aurora’s giant employers: Aurora’s aspirations are not lost on Don Elliman, chancellor of CU’s Anschutz Medical Campus. The veteran magazine publisher and former state official said he recognizes that Aurora for years “bristled at being Denver’s poor neighbor." "And it’s still got plenty of issues,” he said. “We happen to be situated smack in the middle of three of the poorest zip codes in the state of Colorado, and we’re very mindful of that fact. We don’t want to be a house on the hill.” Elliman said CU Anschutz has a $2.4 billion annual budget and 2.1 million outpatient visits on campus each year, and it’s still growing on its 578-acre campus. It also has programs that hire people from surrounding neighborhoods and a community clinic provides free care.