The CU Anschutz Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is part of a statewide, community-based collaborative led by Denver Recovery Group (DRG) that has received a $4.94 million first-year award through Colorado's Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) to launch Colorado STREAM, an ambitious new initiative designed to bring essential healthcare services closer to people living in rural and frontier communities across Colorado.*
Colorado STREAM is envisioned as a five-year initiative, with annual funding subject to continued approval. If funded at the first-year level, the initiative represents nearly $25 million in investment in rural Colorado over five years. Approximately $1.42 million of the first-year award is budgeted to support CU Anschutz Pharmacy’s role in the project—an investment that could total more than $7 million over five years, making STREAM one of the largest awards in the School’s history.
Denver Recovery Group serves as the lead grantee, working in partnership with CU Anschutz Pharmacy, The Steadman Group, and community and healthcare partners across the state, to develop and implement Colorado STREAM, a new model designed to bring coordinated, whole-person care closer to rural Coloradans.
Colorado STREAM will connect community pharmacies with regional treatment centers, telehealth services and other healthcare partners to expand access to medications for opioid use disorder, chronic disease management, medication support and other whole-person health services.
"This investment gives us an extraordinary opportunity to rethink how healthcare can be delivered in rural Colorado," said Brian Tsuji, PharmD, Dean of CU Anschutz Pharmacy. "Community pharmacists are already trusted healthcare professionals embedded in these communities. By connecting them with treatment specialists, technology and coordinated care networks, we can bring critical services closer to patients rather than asking patients to travel long distances to find care."
Colorado STREAM is the result of a strategic collaboration that brings together expertise in addiction treatment, rural healthcare, program design and evaluation, and pharmacy practice. Denver Recovery Group, led by Regional Director Denise Vincioni, served as the lead applicant, working closely with The Steadman Group, led on the project by JK Costello, MD, MPH, and the CU Anschutz Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences team led by Rob Valuck, PhD, RPh; Wes Nuffer, PharmD; and Dean Brian Tsuji, PharmD. Together, the interdisciplinary group developed Colorado STREAM around a shared vision: combining existing healthcare resources and complementary expertise to create a coordinated, sustainable model that brings essential care closer to rural Coloradans.
“People living in rural Colorado should be able to receive high-quality treatment and coordinated healthcare closer to home. STREAM gives us an opportunity to connect DRG’s treatment expertise with trusted community pharmacies, academic partners, technology, and local care resources so that distance is less of a barrier to recovery and better health,” said DRG Regional Director Denise Vincioni.
Central to Colorado STREAM is an intentional, statewide collaboration designed to build on the healthcare resources and trusted relationships that already exist in Colorado communities. The initiative brings together national and regional pharmacy partners Albertsons-Safeway and Kroger/City Market, independent rural pharmacies including Downtown Drug Glenwood Springs and Buena Vista Drug, and Colorado Community-Based Pharmacy Solutions for All (CPESN Colorado), a statewide network focused on expanding community pharmacy-based patient care. Emily Zadvorny, PharmD, Executive Director of the Colorado Pharmacists Society, also brings important statewide pharmacy leadership and expertise to the collaboration. Together, these partners will help ensure that Colorado STREAM is informed by the realities of delivering care in communities of different sizes and regions—and that the model is designed not just for rural Colorado, but with rural Colorado.
Nearly 722,000 Coloradans live in rural communities, and 47 of the state's 64 counties are classified as rural or frontier. Many residents face healthcare provider shortages, long travel distances and limited access to specialty and behavioral health services.
Those barriers can be particularly consequential for people seeking treatment for opioid use disorder. Rural communities often have fewer treatment providers and behavioral health resources, while transportation and fragmented care can make it difficult for patients to begin and remain in treatment.
At the same time, rural communities face significant burdens from chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease—conditions that require consistent monitoring, medication management and ongoing care.
Colorado STREAM will address these challenges by leveraging a healthcare resource that already exists in communities across the state: the local pharmacy.
“Where you live shouldn’t determine whether you can get the care you need,” said Rob Valuck, PhD, Professor and Executive Director of the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention. “The strength of the hub-and-spoke model is that we’re not trying to recreate an entire healthcare system in every rural community. We’re connecting the expertise and resources of regional treatment centers with trusted community pharmacists who are already caring for patients close to home. Through strong partnerships, telehealth and coordinated care, we can extend the reach of the healthcare system while making it easier for patients to access treatment, manage chronic conditions and stay connected to the care they need.”
The Colorado STREAM model will create connections among regional treatment hubs, community pharmacy networks, telehealth and coordinated whole-person care.
Through those connections, the initiative will work to:
- Expand access to evidence-based medications and support for opioid use disorder.
- Connect patients and rural pharmacy teams with treatment specialists and other clinicians through telehealth and coordinated referrals.
- Increase access to medication management and support for chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
- Build the rural healthcare workforce capacity needed to implement and sustain STREAM by training pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, students, preceptors and collaborating healthcare professionals.
- Develop sustainable models that allow community pharmacies to play a larger role in delivering and coordinating healthcare in rural communities.
The initiative will also use data and evaluation to measure outcomes, improve care and develop a model that can be sustained and expanded over time.
"For many rural Coloradans, the community pharmacy may be one of the most accessible points of healthcare in their community. STREAM builds on that existing relationship. Rather than creating an entirely new healthcare infrastructure, we're connecting and strengthening resources that communities already know and trust,” said Wes Nuffer, PharmD, Professor, and Assistant Director of Experiential Programs.
The award is part of Colorado's Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), administered by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing. The statewide program is supported through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and is intended to improve healthcare access and outcomes and create sustainable models of care for rural communities.
Colorado's RHTP priorities include expanding the rural healthcare workforce, strengthening rural healthcare networks, increasing preventive care capacity, integrating telehealth and technology, and developing new approaches to rural care delivery.
For CU Anschutz Pharmacy, the initiative also creates an opportunity to prepare future pharmacists to practice in rural and frontier communities and to demonstrate how pharmacists can contribute more broadly to the healthcare team.
“Pharmacists have always been medication experts, but their potential contribution to rural healthcare goes much further. STREAM gives us an opportunity not only to improve access to care today, but also to train the next generation of pharmacists to become an integral part of the rural healthcare workforce,” said Tsuji. “This large, multi-site, multi-partner initiative is a tangible example of how we dream big at CU Anschutz—bringing together education, innovation, clinical expertise and community partnerships to tackle complex healthcare challenges and improve people’s lives. This is our mission in action.”
Learn more about Colorado STREAM at pharmacy.cuanschutz.edu/stream.
Colorado is directing $169,587,181 in RHTP grants to rural healthcare providers across the state. Through a highly competitive application process, 91 applicants and approximately 250 projects were selected to receive funding across 52 rural or frontier counties and three rural census tract counties.
A complete list of Colorado Rural Health Transformation Program awardees and additional information about RHTP is available on the RHTP website.
About the CU Anschutz Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
The CU Anschutz Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is a nationally recognized leader in pharmacy education, pharmaceutical research and patient-centered care. Located on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado, the school prepares the next generation of pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists and healthcare leaders while advancing discoveries that improve human health. Through innovative research, clinical practice, education and partnerships with healthcare organizations and communities across Colorado and beyond, CU Anschutz Pharmacy is working to transform pharmacy practice, develop new therapies and improve access to high-quality care. CU Pharmacy is committed to advancing science and improving health through innovation, collaboration and service.
About Denver Recovery Group
Denver Recovery Group provides evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder, including medications for opioid use disorder, counseling, case management, and care coordination. Through STREAM, DRG will serve as the lead grantee and coordinate implementation with rural treatment sites, community pharmacies, academic and evaluation partners, and technology and service organizations across Colorado.
About the Rural Health Transformation Program
The Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) is a five-year federal initiative administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) designed to strengthen healthcare access and improve health outcomes in rural and frontier communities. The program supports investments in workforce development, innovative care models, technology-enabled services, and health system sustainability. The program was authorized under Section 71401 of H.R. 1 (Public Law 119-21) to provide grants totaling $50 billion in federal funding nationwide from Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2026 through FFY 2030.
From the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Colorado’s award totals $200,105,604.17 for the first year of the program to support rural health transformation efforts across the state, and is 100% funded by CMS. The contents of this release are those of the CU Anschutz Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CMS/HHS or the U.S. Government.
* Award is subject to execution of the Grant Agreement.
Media Contact
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CU Anschutz Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
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