Colorado’s ‘Culturally Relevant Healthcare Training Act’ Passes 9-4

The House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee voted 9-4 to pass a bill, HB22-1267 “Culturally Relevant Healthcare Training Act,” onto the House Appropriations Committee in Denver, Colorado on March 15. The bill provides quality healthcare services for all Coloradans, with an inclination to target vulnerable and marginalized communities, such as the LGBTQ community, but it’s certainly not limited to any one group.

The bill will allocate $1 million to a grant program that funds the development of culturally relevant, awareness, and affirming healthcare training for healthcare providers. The training programs will be developed and approved nonprofits will focus on providing quality care to LGBTQ members, racial and ethnic minorities, veterans, and individuals that suffer complicated behavioral health needs. The training programs will be available to all licensed, certified, and registered healthcare personnel.

The HB22-1267 bill bridges the gap for healthcare workers across the state of Colorado, helping healthcare providers truly understand how to serve communities that simply don’t fit the old tried and true mold of the past. The availability for culturally appropriate care is limited to those with intersectional identities.

In an LGBTQ Colorado survey, only 52% of LGBT members reported that their primary healthcare provider was “LGBTQ competent.” Seventy-three percent of transgender respondents reported that they didn’t know how to find a healthcare provider, and 64% stated they must travel long distances to receive medical treatment from an LGBTQ-competent facility.

One Colorado, the state’s leading advocacy program organization for LGBTQ members, rejoiced over the decision:

“All Coloradans, particularly communities with long standing health disparities rooted in the legacy of historical marginalization, deserve safe and respectful healthcare from professionals they can trust, who are trained to be responsive to their specific needs,” says One Colorado Policy Manager Meredith Gleitz.

Envision:You was also among the organizations celebrating the bill’s passing.

“I sincerely support HB22-1267,” says Zamora Evans, Envision:You’s program coordinator and a queer Hispanic educator and advocate, who testified in favor of HB22-1267. “This legislation is a necessary investment in the physical and mental health of all Coloradans, especially those marginalized by systems of power, privilege, and oppression such as members of the LGBTQ+ community. Colorado’s LGBTQ+ community experiences a variety of challenges regarding access to quality care. Even more, Transgender and gender-nonconforming folks face a significantly harder time finding culturally relevant care than the general population. This is also true for LGTBQ+ folks that are interjectionally marginalized due to racism, ableism, classism, and others. As part of the LGBTQ+ community, as a trans person, as a Hispanic person, I experienced these challenges first-hand.”

Envision:You CEO and Founder Steven Haden also pointed to his experience in the field to highlight the importance of the bill.

“As a mental health therapist, most of my colleagues in the field can agree that during our training in graduate school, Ph.D. programs, and medical school we do not receive essential training to work with individuals who possess intersecting and disadvantaged identities,” Haden says. “This investment to encourage enhanced training is essential to improve the well-being of hundreds of thousands of Coloradans.”