Local First Foundation has long championed affordable healthcare as a local economic development strategy and is pleased to release its Healthcare Performance Dashboard to foster transparency and accountability in La Plata County. Healthcare receives an enormous public and private investment and is a major part of our economy. The Dashboard seeks to answer an important question: Are we getting good value for our money?
The Dashboard compares the county with the state, nation and other Colorado counties on 24 key measures of healthcare access, prevention, costs, outcomes, workforce and social drivers of health. By highlighting both strengths and gaps, we hope to stimulate action that improves residents’ health and well-being, workforce productivity and community resilience.
There is encouraging news. La Plata County outperforms the state average on nine of the 24 measures, including higher childhood immunization rates, fewer preventable Emergency Room visits and hospital stays, and a life expectancy that is two years longer than the Colorado average. The county also benefits from a relatively strong healthcare workforce, although its capacity may be stretched by growing regional demand for services.
The Dashboard also identifies important opportunities for improvement. Children and teens receive dental care at lower rates than the statewide average. Both La Plata County and Colorado lag the nation on cancer screenings. And healthcare costs and patients’ out-of-pocket expenses are both relatively high. Because county residents use hospitals less than average, these higher costs likely reflect higher prices for services rather than greater use of healthcare.
Healthcare performance varies widely across the county’s 12 census tracts. The data also show that Native American and Hispanic residents experience worse health outcomes than white residents. Closing disparities within La Plata County offers both the fairest and most effective way to improve overall community health.
Notably, we are not far from best peer performance. On average, a 19% improvement across these measures would bring the county up to the level of the best-performing rural resort counties on the Western Slope. Achieving that level of performance would bring gains such as 1,300 additional cancer screenings, 2,100 fewer unnecessary ER visits, 845 fewer people experiencing frequent mental distress and 1,000 more adults reporting overall good health.
If La Plata County improved to the level of the best county in the state, the gains would include 1,300 more children and teens getting the dental care they need, while healthcare costs would be reduced by $974 per person and patients would save $378 on average in out-of-pocket costs.
The Dashboard does not answer every question. County-level data on residents’ experiences remain limited. At the regional level, the Colorado Health Access Survey reports that 15% of southwest Colorado residents didn’t get necessary doctor care because of cost in 2025, which was higher than the state average of 11%.
Improving healthcare performance will require leadership and collaboration among healthcare and community organizations, employers and governments. We can build on promising local initiatives such as Local First’s partnership with Peak Health Alliance to reduce health insurance premiums and the Southwest Colorado Cares hub that is strengthening the coordination of health-related social services.
Better health, lower costs, and a more resilient community are realistic goals if La Plata County focuses on prevention, affordability, and eliminating disparities. Achieving local progress also requires supportive state and national policies. Impending Medicaid funding cutbacks will widen disparities in access to care in our county and region.
Challenges are also an opportunity to pull together. By leveraging our strengths, we can work to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to benefit from the best healthcare possible for the rural communities we call home. Learn more about the Dashboard and its findings at www.local-first.org/healthcare-performance-dashboard-lpc.
Doug McCarthy is Local First Foundation’s health adviser.
