Author: SETH KLAMANN The Gazette

A sweeping bill that seeks to address the fentanyl crisis in Colorado would do little to improve a key treatment option in jails, experts said last week. Meanwhile, sheriffs said that if legislators want to improve the program, they should be prepared to pay for it. Under the bill, jails who receive behavioral health funding…

A Centennial primary care clinic has been suspended from administering the COVID-19 vaccine and 68 people will likely need to be revaccinated after a state investigation determined the clinic violated several federal standards.  The state Department of Public Health and Environment announced Health Now Family Practice’s immediate suspension late Friday afternoon. The clinic, operated by…

Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office has discussed amending the legislature’s sweeping fentanyl bill with sponsors to tighten penalties around simple possession of the drug. A Weiser spokesman confirmed the discussions Friday, shortly after Colorado Public Radio reported that some Democrats in the capitol may try to amend a bipartisan bill to make it a felony…

Colorado health officials will close 40 community COVID-19 testing sites by the end of April, leaving 80 more open amid a broader effort by the state to transition pandemic response into the traditional health care system. State leaders, including Gov. Jared Polis, have said for weeks that they’re going to get out of the business…

With millions of dollars in new funding and amid a spiraling overdose crisis, Denver Health announced that it’s expanding its addiction services with an eye toward youth and establishing an academy to offer trainings on behavioral health and substance use. Much of the fresh funding comes from a $1.5 million national grant, a $1.2 million…

The Denver Health Foundation announced a new executive director Monday, as well as two new members of its board of directors. Crystal Potter Rivera, who joined the foundation in 2012, is its new leader, after her predecessor, Linda Ford, departed to “pursue part-time consulting work and ease into retirement,” according to a Denver Health news…

Colorado’s hospitals are among the most profitable in the country, a new state analysis found, and the largest systems and facilities posted hundreds of millions of dollars in profit and most padded their reserves in 2020, despite the emergence of COVID-19. The state is only one of two to be ranked in the top-10 on…

Colorado hit 13,000 deaths due to COVID-19 on Friday, the latest grim milestone in a pandemic that, while slowing, is still claiming the lives of Coloradans. The tally comes a little more than six weeks after the state hit 12,000. In those six weeks, the virus’s presence here has further fallen; cases are near their…

Colorado’s share of a $26 billion national opioid settlement will begin arriving later this year, and state and regional leaders tasked with overseeing much of its distribution met for the first time Thursday to begin laying the groundwork. The Opioid Abatement Council, made up of 12 people from across the state and chaired by a…