Chaffee County Public Health will launch a new pilot project called the Chaffee Community Clinic in Salida on May 23 and in Buena Vista on May 31.
The inspiration for this initiative came from the most recent Community Health Assessment, where access to basic medical and dental care and services for mental health and substance use disorders ranked high among concerned Chaffee County citizens.
The Chaffee Community Clinic aims to serve the unhoused, undocumented, low income, those who struggle with substance use disorders, and others who traditionally have difficulties accessing healthcare through a holistic approach to physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
The Chaffee Community Clinic will operate as a mobile medical and harm reduction clinic. Medical services provided by the Chaffee Community Clinic will include oral health screening and limited treatment, basic wound care, tobacco cessation, diabetes and cardiovascular screening, HIV and Hep-C testing, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment and immunizations. Clinic staff will also connect individuals with behavioral health, housing, and aging navigation, assist with enrollment into Medicaid, and help clients connect with a medical home or specialty medical provider. Harm reduction services will include safe disposal of needles and syringes, free sterile syringes (Salida only), Narcan, fentanyl testing strips, acu-detox, education on overdose prevention, recovery and peer support, and connection to MAT (medication assisted treatment).
“Ensuring access to health and wellness services and supports, especially for those who experience the most barriers, is a top priority of CCPH and our local healthcare system. Through coordination and collaboration, CCC aims to meet people where they are at, assessing their needs in an environment that is comfortable to them, and providing quality services onsite or making the appropriate warm handoffs to the programs and providers that can best serve them. For almost six months, the CCC planning committee has been completing a wide variety of training, working on protocols and procedures, and preparing to provide our community with this service in the most thoughtful, sensitive, and non-stigmatizing way. This project is fully funded through the support of state and private grants. We know we will have many lessons learned and hope that our county will walk alongside us as we strive to improve the health and wellness landscape for everyone in Chaffee County,” says Andrea Carlstrom, CCPH Director.
In Salida, the Chaffee Community Clinic will be open from 12-4 pm on Mondays beginning on May 23 in the parking lot of the Salida United Methodist Church. Services will be provided in both a mobile health trailer as well as in rooms donated by the church.
In Buena Vista the clinic will be open beginning on May 31 from 9am – 12pm on Tuesdays in the parking lot of the Buena Vista Congregational United Church. Services will be provided in both a mobile health trailer as well as in rooms donated by the church.
