June 04, 2010 12:53am EST 

Hospitals in Colorado employ more than 55,000 medical professionals with a combined payroll and benefits of more than $3.3 billion. More than 471,000 people are present in general, academic, specialty and rehabilitation hospitals and more than 8 million outpatient visits (including surgeries, home health care, and emergency room visits) were recorded. They are essential to the state, not only providing high-quality health care, but as major economic and employment contributors as well. The Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) is a private and government-operated, metropolitan and rural, investor-owned and not-for-profit association that represents all types of hospitals throughout Colorado. Through advocacy, leadership, communication, and collaboration, the CHA aims to provide Coloradoans with access to high quality, affordable healthcare provided through a well-financed health care delivery system.
The CHA aims to achieve their vision of accessible, high-quality, affordable health care with thought out strategic imperatives. For one, they strive to lead Colorado’s hospitals in public policy debates on health care reform, focusing on coverage and access, quality, performance improvement and patient safety. Additionally, the CHA will proactively address health care workforce issues that ensure that hospitals have available the high-quality workers required for the excellence the public expects. They will also undertake initiatives to link quality of healthcare with cost in order to yield value to consumers and payers. The CHA understands that hospitals need to be accountable to the public, and continue to improve quality and patient safety.
Government relations at the CHA represents interests of members through informing, acquainting, educating, and persuading those who govern. Through communication and interpretation of the laws and regulations of government, the CHA works to present a unified hospital voice in federal and state government relations activities. This united voice is necessary to achieve adoption of laws and regulations that are in the best interest of patients served by hospitals and health care institutions. The CHA Government Relations Program serves as an advocate for the hospitals,representing their concerns and interests to the Colorado General Assembly and to agencies within the executive branch. This advocacy is just another example of how the CHA supports the hospitals, health systems, and their employees with their goal of patient safety, hospital efficiency, and effectiveness.

You can visit the CHA website for more information.