DDPHE lays out Community Health Improvement Plan; council presses on housing, Medicaid and childcare

At a joint meeting of the mayor and Denver City Council, Nathan, project manager for the community health assessment at the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment (DDPHE), presented findings from a five‑year assessment and an outline of the city’s draft Community Health Improvement Plan on the department’s work to address health inequities.

Nathan told the council the Community Health Assessment (CHA) drew on more than 2,000 survey responses, 12 focus groups, two large town halls and analysis of more than 100 population health metrics. He said the CHIP translates that assessment into three priority areas: increasing access to health care; reducing evictions, displacement and financial hardship for renters while expanding housing types; and addressing systemic racism as a root cause of health disparities.

The plan, Nathan said, is designed to be cross‑sector and community‑led, with implementation supported by partner agencies and organizations including HOST, Community Planning and Development, Denver Human Services, Denver Health and local health systems such as AdventHealth Porter.

Councilmembers used the presentation to press for details on how the CHIP will address specific local concerns. Councilmember Bijas asked for the slide deck for further review and raised that the report’s focus on renters could understate risks faced by long‑time homeowners, including foreclosure and deteriorating housing conditions. "What about people that are homeowners?" Bijas asked, noting older residents who bought homes long before current values and who face roof leaks and other unhealthy living conditions.

Nathan responded that while some bullets emphasize renters, the CHIP’s goals around financial stability and housing are intended to cover homeowners as well and that task‑level workgroups will flesh out specific supports.

Another councilmember asked about the city’s leverage over Medicaid and state funding. Nathan said the city cannot change Medicaid policy at the state or federal level but can work with regional entities such as Colorado Access to increase provider participation, conduct outreach to enroll eligible residents and use the CHIP to align budget proposals and ordinances with community‑identified needs.

Councilmember Amy Torres commended the community‑grounded approach and urged that the CHIP explicitly consider how citywide policies affect particular neighborhoods and historically underserved populations (BIPOC, American Indian, LGBTQ), recommending tailored outreach and disaggregated metrics for childcare and other services. Councilmember Pratap asked for clarity on whether the CHA sampling captured growing, disconnected populations in Southeast Denver; Nathan said the assessment used social vulnerability measures to target outreach but acknowledged that some local nuance can be lost in aggregated census‑tract measures.

Nathan said DDPHE will use the next 180 days to develop action plans, clarify responsibilities and define metrics to measure progress; staff emphasized the CHIP is intended to be an "umbrella" for coordinated, cross‑sector action rather than a singular DDPHE program.

The presentation and Q&A ended with councilmembers thanking DDPHE for the work and noting opportunities to align the CHIP to funding and strategic priorities in upcoming budgets and ordinances.

The meeting then moved to an executive session later in the agenda to discuss litigation and legal advice.