Denver Health traces its roots back more than a century and a half, to its origins as part of Denver’s City Hospital, which was established in 1860 to serve the health care needs of the rapidly developing city. Later known as Denver General Hospital, and part of the city’s Department of Health and Hospitals, the hospital served as the city’s safety-net institution, caring for the poor. Like many public hospitals, it was underfunded and struggled to maintain its aging facilities and keep pace with the need for care, but continued to offer services consistent with its mission.
The establishment of the Office for Economic Opportunity (OEO) as part of President Johnson’s War on Poverty in 1964 inspired the establishment by the city of a non-profit called Denver’s War on Poverty, which was charged with reviewing proposals from community groups to address the broad range of problems facing the city’s poor. Dr. Samuel Johnson was tasked with developing health-related programs for Denver’s antipoverty efforts. Familiar with the plight of the city’s low-income residents, who were likely to receive only episodic, crisis-driven care in the antiquated facilities, Johnson wanted to use OEO money to develop medical clinics in Denver’s low-income communities. Together with then-Denver Mayor Tom Currigan, he began planning a network of health clinics in Denver's low-income neighborhoods that could provide not only primary care services, but also dental care, social services, transportation, daycare and educational assistance.
Denver was the first city in the country to submit a grant application to the OEO, initially seeking support for a district health center in the Curtis Park housing project. The concept was expanded to three health centers as the city worked to respond to federal concerns about the program and overcome obstacles to funding. On June 30, 1965, just days after awarding a health center grant to Tufts University, the OEO approved a demonstration grant to Health and Hospitals in the amount of $805,500, to fund the district health center for a year; an additional $89,5000 in cash and in-kind services was to be provided by the city. Dr. Johnson planned to provide comprehensive, family-centered care, while addressing the residents needs for housing, sanitation, welfare aid, and job training.
Overcoming challenges from the medical establishment, the plans for the health center were completed by November 1965, and Eastside Neighborhood Health, the first community health center west of the Mississippi River, opened on March 7, 1966 in a remodeled bakery in the Five Points Neighborhood. In addition to offering health care services and consistent with OEO objectives to maximize community involvement, the clinic provided jobs to neighborhood residents, who were hired to work in medical assistant, translator, records clerks and other roles.
Johnson began planning for a second full-scale health center, as well as smaller "health stations.” While the unrest of the 1960s was a challenge in Denver as in many large cities, Johnson prevailed and succeeded in opening a second family health center in 1968, in a converted lumber and hardware store, known today as the Sam Sandos Westside Family Health Center. In just over three years, the Denver Neighborhood Health Program consisted of two large health centers and eight smaller “health stations” offering a full range of primary care, while specialty consultations were provided through hospital partnerships with Denver General, Children’s Hospital and the University of Colorado Medical Center. Eastside moved to a new facility to accommodate more patients in 1979, and remains one of the largest health center sites in the Denver health system, while Westside moved to a new facility in May 1985.
The family health network grew over the decades, adapting to internal and external political struggles, changes in the availability of funding, the reorganization of the hospital system and the needs of communities both longstanding and new to the city. Today, Denver Health operates 10 primary health center locations, and 6 dental sites, as well as 18 school-based clinics located in the city’s public schools. It’s newest location, Sloan’s Lake Primary Care Center, developed in partnership with the Denver Housing Authority, opened in September 2020.
From the outset, Denver Health has integrated comprehensive team-based primary care with community services and specialized care to meet the unique needs of its patients. Its primary care teams include integrated behavioral health specialists, social workers, clinical pharmacists, and patient and community navigators. A partnership with the Public Health Department helps address prevention and population health. The health centers incorporates the principles of the LEAN model adopted across the organization, focusing on creating value to truly meet community need.
A it enters its 6th decade of service, Denver Health continues to build this rich history of service, vision of quality, and commitment to health care for all.
