The Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) has published its 2025 Snapshot of Rural Health, a comprehensive 104-page report that offers an extensive examination of healthcare challenges and trends in rural Colorado. This year's edition represents the most detailed publication to date, featuring 55 maps and analysis across 29 different topics. The report provides a rigorous, data-driven exploration of rural healthcare, including demographic trends, chronic disease prevalence, healthcare delivery systems, substance use patterns, and economic factors.
CRHC CEO Michelle Mills emphasized the publication's purpose, highlighting its utility for healthcare facilities, policymakers, providers, and the public. The report is designed to be freely accessible, supporting the organization's mission of improving healthcare services in rural communities. The Snapshot includes comprehensive data collected and analyzed by CRHC's Public Health Data Specialist, with a detailed citations page enabling quick and accurate sourcing of information. This year's edition notably expanded its coverage of chronic disease in rural Colorado and introduced an analysis of rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) deserts.
Mills and her team are set to leverage the report's insights during the National Rural Health Association's Rural Health Policy Institute in Washington DC from February 11-13. As the Association's Board Chair for 2025, Mills will meet with legislators to discuss rural healthcare legislative priorities and potential solutions. The publication serves as a critical resource for understanding the unique healthcare challenges facing rural Colorado, offering policymakers and healthcare professionals a data-driven foundation for strategic decision-making.
The importance of this report lies in its ability to quantify and visualize disparities that often remain anecdotal in policy discussions. By documenting specific challenges like EMS deserts—areas with inadequate emergency medical coverage—the report provides concrete evidence that can drive funding allocations and legislative action. The expanded chronic disease data is particularly significant given higher rates of conditions like diabetes and heart disease in rural populations, where access to specialists and preventive care is often limited.
For healthcare providers operating in rural areas, the report offers benchmarking data that can help identify service gaps and justify resource requests. The economic factors analysis provides context for how financial constraints impact both healthcare delivery and patient access. As rural hospitals continue to face closure threats nationwide, this Colorado-specific data becomes increasingly valuable for developing targeted interventions that address the state's unique geographic and demographic challenges.
The timing of the report's release ahead of key policy discussions in Washington DC ensures its findings will directly inform legislative priorities. With Mills serving as Board Chair for the National Rural Health Association, the report's data will carry additional weight in conversations about federal rural health policy. The comprehensive nature of the 2025 edition, with its 55 maps and 29 topic areas, represents a significant advancement in rural health data collection and analysis that could serve as a model for other states facing similar challenges.
