Election Over, Health Care Work Continues
Statement attributable to
Annette Kowal
President and Chief Executive Officer
Colorado Community Health Network (CCHN)
DENVER― The 2020 elections are over and there are new elected officials and many who have been re-elected to continue to serve. Democracy proceeds and we are grateful.
We need to make sure we, Colorado’s Community Health Centers, continue fulfilling our shared commitment to increase access to high quality health care for people in need in Colorado.
In 1947, British leader Winston S Churchill said “Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…”
American democracy is noisy, messy, and also full of ideas and hope. The election results, as usually happens in a democracy, left people with different feelings, often diametrically different. However we individually feel about who was elected or was not, and which ballot measures passed or not, our neighbors are still our neighbors, our co-workers are still our co-workers, and we still love our families and friends. Community Health Centers are still caring for our patients as we did before the election – that’s what we are here to do.
We will continue to uphold our commitment to high quality, affordable, accessible primary health care. We will continue to fight for the improved coverage and health care access gained for tens of thousands of Coloradans and millions of Americans in recent years.
Time will tell what the impact will be on our country, and on our family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. We will continue to uphold our commitment to high-quality, comprehensive primary health care for all, without barriers of income, race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, family structure, religion, or any of the other things that artificially divide us one human from another.
We will continue to advocate for health care access for all and oppose efforts that support a two-tiered health care system and exclude some from receiving the health care they need. All of us – staff, patients, community supporters – must plan to speak up and speak often. We have numbers and passion – we must continue speak up in high numbers to express our passion for our commitment.
We are fortunate that the Community Health Center model was built for and continues to renew and improve the way we deliver care, with strong and broad bipartisan support from Washington, D.C., and from the thousands of communities that are home to Community Health Centers.
Here at CCHN, our cultural values include integrity, abundance, collaboration, commitment, and innovation. We bring these values to our planning, strategy, and decision-making; and we aspire to live and work these values every day. We are so very inspired and humbled to be able to serve the Community Health Centers of Colorado, their patients, employees, and communities – our neighbors all. We look forward to continuing to bring our values to our work and serving Colorado CHC. Community Health Centers have a national 55-year-history of working with Republican and Democratic U.S. presidents and governors, Congress and state legislatures, to expand access to affordable care, and we plan to continue our work.
Please join our advocacy network to receive updates on important legislative action and alerts for when your voice is needed. It surely will be needed and we hope you will join us.
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