Since 1978, the SLV AHEC has been a leader of healthcare workforce development and community health programs throughout Colorado’s San Luis Valley. All six counties in the Valley are federally identified as medically underserved, and the AHEC’s goal is to strategically address this problem. The SLV AHEC is affiliated with the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus AHEC Program Office. Some of the recent and ongoing programs of the SLV AHEC designed to improve health outcomes in the San Luis Valley include:
Workforce pipeline programming for youth to cultivate interest in the healthcare field and improve health and education outcomes; Professional development activities for health care providers and the community; Community health programming addressing the opioid crisis with health care providers, first responders and community to respond to the current opioid crisis; Naloxone overdose-reversal education and distribution; Participation in the state’s first rural comprehensive harm reduction program partnership; advocacy for those who are using opioids and their families; Community collaboration programs aiming to prevent mental, emotional, and behavioral problems; Other community health programs such as a community health worker cardiac risk assessment program and a home visitation program catered to the needs of the communities we serve. We have jail-based advocacy for non-violent drug misuse, a harm reduction program and we host the SLV American Indian Center.