The Board of County Commissioners met with the Gunnison County Community Health Coalition for a Board of Health update and a West Central Public Health Partnership Board progress report at their regular meeting on Sept. 15.
Community Health Manager Margaret Wacker and Health Coalition Coordinator Katherine Melland led the presentation given at the regular meeting. The Gunnison County Community Health Coalition seeks to improve the wellbeing of all community members through health and human services professionals who dedicate their time to improving social, physical, mental, and spiritual health. The Coalition partners with resources across Gunnison County, including Gunnison Valley Health, CB State of Mind, Gunnison County Food Pantry, and more.
The Health Coalition leadership team is the primary decision-making body and works closely with Melland to provide guidance and keep the coalition running.
The Health Coalition has six key responsibilities: enhance collaboration among community and health organizations, operate proactively to spot gaps in local services, educate the community by building and maintaining awareness of priority health issues, advocate for systems-level changes when shifts are needed, monitor community health progress, and provide oversight and coordination for subgroup work plans and stakeholder initiatives.
“There has been an influx of recent local health data, which is amazing because a lot of times we’re included in regional things, but these have been more specific to our local community,” said Melland.
The team has been hosting forums with partners to share and interpret new local health data through Healthy Kids Colorado survey results, coroner suicide data, and economic reports from TAP. The coalition has an upcoming presentation by CB State of Mind on behavioral health data on October 15.
Leadership has recently recognized an opportunity to use the Health Coalition website as a health data repository, providing an easy-access hub for up-to-date local health presentations and aggregated data, so that coalition partners, community organizations, and residents can find local data for grant applications, program design, and strategic planning.
The team is also working to update the coalition’s strategic plan, which was last fully updated in 2020 and resumed in 2024, when the team realized the need for a formal MOU with all leadership-team organizations.
“The MOU was completed in 2025,” said Melland. “So now is an opportunity to go back to the previous update and finish that planning process to use all of this new health data that we have as part of that strategic process.”
The team has recently achieved significant success in creating a workforce support subgroup focused on improving wellness for at-risk workers. The program, which was formalized as a cooperative in May, is now self-sustaining and targets employees in the construction and service industries and in non-profit organizations, providing them with access to Employee Assistance Program services that could not previously be afforded. Utilization of the program has been exceptionally strong with 14% of covered employees using the EAP compared to the typical utilization rate of 3%. The co-op has grown to 18 businesses and 225 employees.
With September being Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, the coalition is hard at work with its suicide prevention subgroup, with a meeting set for Sept. 30. The subgroup has two upcoming activities planned: a Better Together Bash at the Gunnison Arts Center with outdoor food and art activities and a DJ as well as an indoor gallery exhibit featuring stories of recovery and resilience, and an Aim for Awareness event hosted by Gunnison Sportsmen Association focusing on gun safety and mental health.
Melland stated the coalition’s support for Gunnison’s Welcome Week activities, where the coalition continues to distribute welcome signs to be displayed at local organizations and community members' houses as a year-round way to show support, foster inclusion, and bring together neighbors despite cultural differences.
“There’s over 30 languages spoken in our valley, and the signs are just a small and meaningful way to recognize what a rich cultural diversity we have here and how it strengthens our community altogether,” said Melland.
West Central Public Health Partnership co-coordinator Erika Stoerkel went on to provide the Public Health Improvement Plan’s year two progress.
Over the past two years, they’ve hosted behavioral health partner meetings, regional retreats at Waunita Hot Springs, and extensive data evaluation with the help of interns. They’ve received multiple grants, including COAC, OeHi, Chronic Disease LPHA, and Stepp to reinforce behavioral health and navigation goals.
A major achievement is the launch and development of Western Slope Wellness, a Credible Mind website that serves as a hub for behavioral health assessments, self-help resources, and a community directory.
The partnership is implementing whole health navigation through the Community Resource Network, where local public health agencies, such as the food pantry, Juvenile Services, and Health and Human Services, are being onboarded. CRN is designed to create and track referrals, print and send instructions, and, with client consent, form shared care teams, so organizations can coordinate without requiring clients to repeat their stories. The region is partnering with other CRNs to strengthen the process.
PHIP has also been prioritizing stigma reduction and suicide prevention. Stigma work includes using Western Slope Wellness to normalize self-education and hosting different events with attention to youth and culturally specific messaging. A regional suicide review subcommittee has been formed with coroners, public health, behavioral health providers, veteran affairs, and more to design a regional Suicide Review Board.
Looking ahead to the end of the year, PHIP is planning another retreat and beginning preparations for an upcoming Community Health Assessment.
Correction: This article was corrected on Sept. 29 to reflect that 30 languages are spoken in the Valley, not 300. The Times apologizes for the error.
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