Officials tout $7 million 'one-stop health & wellness building' for rural Clear Creek medical care
Clear Creek County combats public health care issues with one-stop health and wellness building.
"By all accounts, it should have been impossible, but here it is," remarked fundraising consultant Robb Pike.
That impossible feat was raising enough of the $7 million to construct the health and wellness center in Idaho Springs, a one-stop shop for healthcare needs. The building includes general practitioners, a food bank, mental health resources and just about anything under the medical umbrella you can think of minus hospital and urgent care services.
County commissioners thought back to a different time, 2011 when the last practicing primary care doctor left the county. People had to drive out of the county for medical care, and while there isn't a huge population in Clear Creek, for those who lived there it was one more obstacle to proper health care. Now, they have the center.
"Our resources are a little further away, a lot of our people are more set in their ways, they are not necessarily up to speed on technology," Sam McCloskey, mayor of Silver Plume, said.
He agreed making it as easy as possible would inspire people to make use of the health and wellness center, and in turn, take better care of themselves and others in their care.
It's not without a herculean effort of fundraising the building existed at all. Local community leaders donated massive chunks of cash, and Sen. John Hickenlooper helped to secure $1 million in funding from the federal government.
"When there is the next pandemic because it is when... it may take 10 years, 20 years, hopefully, it will take 100 years, when there is that pandemic, we will be better prepared because we will have the right people in place," Hickenlooper said.
If you're interested in all the services the health and wellness center provides, you can check it out here.
