Colorado Health Foundation, The Colorado Trust, and KFF Team Up to Bring More Health Journalism to Colorado

KHN to Add Staff and Freelancers in Colorado

DENVER, Colo. & SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 5, 2019 — The Colorado Health Foundation, The Colorado Trust, and KFF (the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation) are partnering to bring Kaiser Health News (KHN) to Colorado. KFF—the trusted source of health policy information—produces health policy analysis, polling, and journalism, and KHN is its editorially independent national health and health policy newsroom, producing in-depth news coverage of health care policy and politics.

Thanks to a new long-term partnership with the Colorado Health Foundation and The Colorado Trust, KFF will hire a Colorado-based KHN reporter and recruit a team of freelance journalists throughout the state to bring the same high-quality health journalism to Colorado and the surrounding region that KHN produces nationally. This partnership will also share important stories from Colorado and the region with the nation. KHN stories produced from the region will be made freely available for publication by media outlets throughout Colorado, the mountain states, and the country, and will be published on kffhealthnews.org and distributed through KHN’s social media platforms.

“Elevating the voices and exploring the experiences of Coloradans and the communities they call home are key to achieving more health equity in our state,” said Karen McNeil-Miller, president and CEO of the Colorado Health Foundation. “News stories illustrate and bring to life what data alone cannot. They shine a light on the often invisible barriers that inequity creates in the lives of far too many Coloradans. Trusted and reliable news sources are critical to creating an informed and engaged public and surfacing solutions that will bring health in reach for all of us.”

“This is an important step towards addressing a long-time need for more stories on health equity, health policy, and health care issues in our state,” said Ned Calonge, MD, MPH, president and CEO of The Colorado Trust. “Allowing Coloradans to understand how their health is impacted by policies, systems, and social circumstances is essential to ending inequalities, as well as improving individual and community well-being. We are especially pleased that these stories will be available for free to any Colorado media outlet.”

“With this support from two of Colorado’s leading health philanthropies, we hope to help fill the need for in-depth coverage of health in Colorado and the mountain states and bring those stories to the nation at the same time,” said Drew Altman, KFF’s CEO and KHN’s founding publisher.

KHN’s more than 50 journalists are mostly based in KFF’s Washington, D.C. offices or in California, and this expansion to Colorado follows on the recently announced creation of a KHN Midwest Bureau in St. Louis, Missouri.

“Throughout KHN’s history, we have been fortunate to receive support from a fantastic group of national and regional health foundations who understand the importance of editorially independent, nonprofit health journalism,” said David Rousseau, KFF vice president and executive director of Media and Technology, and KHN’s publisher. “Their support has made it possible for us to extend KHN’s reach to new communities and new topics, and we are thrilled to work with the Colorado Health Foundation and The Colorado Trust to increase health reporting for and about Colorado.”

Media organizations interested in working with KHN should contact KHN at KHNPartnerships@kff.org, and those interested in joining our efforts to expand and improve health journalism in Colorado, the mountain states, and beyond should contact KFF at healthjournalism@kff.org. Colorado employment opportunities will be posted soon at www.kff.org/employment-opportunities.

For more on the partners, visit the Colorado Health Foundation at www.coloradohealth.org, The Colorado Trust at www.coloradotrust.org, KFF at www.kff.org, and KHN at www.kffhealthnews.org

ABOUT THE COLORADO HEALTH FOUNDATION

The Colorado Health Foundation is bringing health in reach for all Coloradans by engaging closely with communities across the state through investing, policy advocacy, learning and capacity building. For more information, please visit www.coloradohealth.org.

ABOUT THE COLORADO TRUST

The Colorado Trust is a foundation dedicated to achieving health equity—ending inequalities that affect racial, ethnic, low-income and other vulnerable populations, so that everyone can achieve good health. The Trust believes all Coloradans should have fair and equal opportunities to lead healthy, productive lives regardless of race, ethnicity, income or where we live. The Trust focuses on policies and information related to advancing health equity, as well as projects that address health equity in partnership with communities throughout Colorado. For more information, please visit www.coloradotrust.org.