Health Partnership employees, who work in the Steamboat Springs office, surround the nonprofit’s new executive director, Brittney Wilburn (aqua shirt, blond hair). Staff include (clockwise from top left) John Hendrikse, Cecilia Escobar-Ceballos, Keely Pemberton, Meghan Barret, Marissa Jaime, Shelly Gainsley, Chris Ray, Netayna Lessner and office mascot Henry.
Suzie Romig / Steamboat Pilot & Today
Locals know how easy it is to get overwhelmed with health problems, health insurance, or drug use, but sometimes residents don’t know where to start to get help. Here, the non-profit The Health Partnership is working to close the gaps.
Residents in Routt, Moffat, and Rio Blanco counties who need help navigating their healthcare facilities, finding transportation to and from doctor’s appointments, obtaining financial aid for affordable housing, or finding home health care can contact the organization based turn to Steamboat Springs.
Anyone who needs help for themselves or their loved ones in overcoming an addiction can turn to the partnership. Residents who have questions about health insurance options, need help registering for insurance, or need information about Medicaid can contact the local partnership.
The health partnership has evolved over the years to fill the gaps in the health system for residents of the area. Its mission is to “promote equitable access to resources for health and wellbeing so that our community can flourish”. An important part of the organization are care coordinators who help hundreds of people every year.
Brittney Wilburn is the new executive director of The Health Partnership, a nonprofit based in Steamboat Springs.
Suzie Romig / Steamboat Pilot & Today
After Stephanie Monahan, the previous managing director of the organization, left the Health Partnership in early June to return to Alaska, recently hired the nonprofit Brittney Wilburn, who moved from Boulder to the Yampa Valley with her husband, three children, and pets a year ago.
Wilburn worked for many years as a Registered Nurse and Nursing Manager before moving into consultancy as a health design strategist for the last two years. She said she took on the director role of The Health Partnership because she missed being part of a team.
“I love the safety net room. It actually felt like coming home, ”said Wilburn, who received a Masters in Public Policy and Management from the Muskie School of Public Service in Maine. “It’s a space where a lot of good work can be done through collaboration, innovation and teamwork.”
Wilburn’s background in nursing is evident in her compassionate, intelligent, considerate, and energetic personality. But your bachelor’s degree in anthropology also helps with ethnographic research to better understand people and human systems. She said her goal is to empower people by giving them tools to make meaningful changes.
Just a few weeks after starting her new role, Wilburn has already set growth goals for next year, including expanding the recovery support program, strengthening the Well-Being Consortium in collaboration with community partners to sustainably improve equity in healthcare improve and expand care coordination work by ensuring that a more diverse community is aware of the resources.
Nursing coordinator Marissa Jaime has worked for the non-profit The Health Partnership for almost three years, helping to connect residents with resources.
Suzie Romig / Steamboat Pilot & Today
Wilburn summarized The Health Partnership’s five main service areas, including:
• Supervision coordination: Employees connect community members to resources for free.
“For example, we recently had a parishioner who just had the gas turned off. She was desperate and beside herself. One of our care coordinators calmed them down and worked with Atmos (Energy) to turn their gas back on, ”said Wilburn.
• Health Justice Coordinator and Regional Health Connector: Employees work to address social determinants of health such as housing, food insecurity and adequate transportation.
“One of our current projects is a collaboration with the Yampa Valley Housing Authority to overcome the language barrier of our Spanish-speaking residents when applying for affordable housing. We will be translating documents into Spanish so that the application is accessible to more people in our community, ”said Wilburn, who is also fluent in Spanish.
• Recovery assistance: Staff work through prisons, the Bridge Program, and other community partners to connect individuals with treatment programs and support groups. In 2020, 100 clients were connected to recovery resources.
“Last week we had a client who was still struggling with active addiction and who was motivated to start treatment. She asked for help and one of our peer recovery specialists coordinated an admission appointment and organized this client to detox at a Summit County facility and coordinated transportation, ”said Wilburn.
• Yampa Valley Welfare Consortium: A regional alliance of nonprofits, health agencies and government agencies work together to actively implement strategies to improve health outcomes in the region.
• System navigation of the health insurance companies: Staff help residents navigate the complex and often frustrating health insurance system, making it easier for residents to sign up for health insurance through Connect for Health Colorado.
The health partnership can be reached online at TheHealthPartnership.org, per email to [email protected] or by phone at 970-875-8630.
To reach Suzie Romig call 970-871-4205 or send an email [email protected].
