Opinion: Yes on 2Q Protects Health Care for All

Denver Health’s determination to overcome challenges with sheer will and grit has been stretched too thin for far too long. This November, ballot measure 2Q asks you to join with others in our community to give the city’s safety-net health system some much-deserved support.

Denver Health has provided essential health care to our community for 164 years. Despite the number of patients more than doubling in the past two decades, the health-care system has not received an increase in funding from the city to support critical health services that benefit the entire Denver community.

Yes on 2Q shows that you care about your community. Yes on 2Q strengthens the city’s health-care system that provides high-quality care for those in need, whenever and wherever they need it. Whether responding to emergencies, helping trauma patients, providing no-cost in-school care to over 16,000 DPS students or to entire families at family health centers, delivering one in three Denver babies, and serving more than 87,000 mental health patients, Denver Health turns no Denver County resident away, regardless of their ability to pay.

Denver Health has stood up to meet the needs of significant growth in the number of people needing care, but the city’s contribution has not grown to meet the rising costs associated with that care. 2Q will create a $70 million injection of funding to help close the gap and protect the city from losing key health services. It delivers a healthier Denver for all by ensuring that Denver Health can continue to provide world-class emergency and trauma care, access to primary care to prevent illness, support for mental health and substance-use treatment, and vital care for children at school-based health centers.

As you complete your ballot, don’t miss the first question on the city’s section on page 4 and vote "yes" — knowing your vote is about so much more than Denver Health. It’s about protecting health for yourself, your neighbors, your community and our city.

Donna Lynne is the CEO of Denver Health and was the former lieutenant governor of Colorado.

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