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State budget cuts have limited basic access to medical services in numerous areas, including Northwest Colorado, said Yampa Valley Medical Center President and CEO Karl Gills.

"We're not able to land on any priorities," Gills said while participating in a recent videoconference sponsored by the not-for-profit Caring for Colorado Foundation, which provides grant funding to health care agencies to assist in broadening access to services.

The videoconference was arranged to discuss unmet medical needs and what many health-care professionals described as the crumbling of the state's public health system.

Gills spoke on behalf of the Steamboat Springs area. He agreed with many of the other 16 spokespersons that an overall downturn in the state's economy has had many local effects.

Gills said mental health and substance abuse are areas in major need of funding.

"We need focus on areas of teen health," he said. Teen pregnancy needs to be addressed, he said.

The hospital staff is struggling with a large and growing monolingual population of Spanish-speaking residents, Gills said. Translation has become a difficult obstacle.

He said many dentists in the area were not accepting Medicare or Medicaid, which increase the number of people without access to dentistry services.

He said elderly care also is a major issue in small, rural communities such as Steamboat Springs.

"We are seeing nursing homes in this area close," he said. "Small, rural nursing homes are finding it hard to stay open."

State cutbacks and rising insurance rates are problems in Steamboat, like most other locations, Gills said. He noted that the fallout is far-reaching and affects many areas of the health care system.

"The entire insurance action issue is coming to rise," he said. "The under-funding and insurance changes are affecting us."

Caring for Colorado Foundation President and CEO Chris Wiant said it was important to understand all of the problems facing the health care industry in the state so that strategies can be developed to address them.

"There's a lot of data out there but not a lot of information," Wiant said. Communicat-ing directly with people from a variety of locations allows the foundation to better understand where the crises are, he said.

"We've heard it directly from communities," he said. "We're not afraid to initiate conversations with communities if we think we can help."

The foundation has awarded the Visiting Nurse Association two grants in the past four years.

A $50,000 grant in 2000 allowed VNA to acquire a Steamboat facility in the YVMC medical offices building.

"It has allowed us to begin nice and wonderful things," VNA Executive Director Sue Birch said.

In 2002 VNA received $40,000 to develop a family planning clinic for Steamboat and Craig. Birch said the clinic, which operates once a week in Steamboat and twice a week in Craig, offers much-needed services to low-income women.

"Probably 70 percent of the women who attend that clinic are considered low-income," Birch said.

VNA would be unable to operate the clinics without the financial support of the foundation, she said. Caring for Colorado does a great amount to aid numerous providers that are struggling throughout the state, she said.

"The public health infrastructure has really eroded in Colorado. The system is crumbling," Birch said. "(Caring for Colorado Foundation) is very keen about assisting the most cost-efficient programs."

To reach Erin Ragan call 871-4232

or e-mail intern@steamboatpilot.com