Pitkin County at risk to lose nonprofit health clinic services

Community Health Services has been a preventative clinic in Pitkin County, removing barriers to healthcare for those with low income, without insurance, or without other options for care since 1971. 

Now, with President Donald Trump’s budget cuts and proposal to eliminate a national and CHS family planning program called Title X, along with state grant revisions, the local safety net provider is just hoping to get through the year.

Logan Hood, CHS executive director who’s been with the nonprofit for five years, said she’s seen the Title X program grow over those five years because the need has grown in the Roaring Fork Valley. Six in 10 women seeking contraceptive services tell CHS that it is their only healthcare provider, according to Hood.

“This is more important than ever,” she said. “We’re only a few months into the administration. Eliminating Title X … it will devastate our clinic and other clinics that rely on it across the U.S. We want to be that safe and trusted resource that we’ve been for so long.”

Linda Vieira, a certified nurse midwife and advanced nurse practitioner in Women’s Health, said she’s seen women at CHS for the past 47 years and is well aware of the critical services it provides for the “health of people in the Roaring Fork Valley.”

“Without financial assistance,” she said, “many would not have the ability to plan on having or not having a family.” 

One of Hood’s biggest concerns along with Title X is the cancer-screening program that helps pay not only for free mammograms for women who aren’t insured or underinsured, but also pays for followup diagnostic mammograms, biopsies, ultrasounds, and more if something is found.

Another one of CHS’ primary programs is Smiles for Students, providing pre-K through eighth grade students from Aspen to Parachute with preventative oral care. This program is partially supported through a federally-funded grant and also threatened by budget cuts.

“There is a real desert for affordable pediatric dentistry in our region,” Hood said. “Oral health gets forgotten in public health settings, but reality is that it is the cornerstone of someone’s overall well-being. We see about 3,000 students between Aspen to Parachute just during the school year — that’s about nine months. And every year, more kids and families are opting in for these free, preventative services.”

She has also seen CHS’ immunization program grow since COVID-19, with many people in Pitkin County in high support of vaccines and staying up-to-date.

“That program has doubled as well — it’s consistently a need,” she said. “It’s not slowing down.”

CHS also offers contraceptives, sexually-transmitted infection testing, cancer screenings, and other preventative health care, in addition to giving referrals and counseling for things like food insecurity, childcare, intimate partner violence, mental health, and more. Vieira confirmed these are services that individuals and families “would not have access to otherwise.”

Federal funding touches every single one of the programs, according to Hood.

The same day that Trump released the agenda to eliminate Title X, she confirmed the state of Colorado adjusted CHS’ standard grant, so allocations are based on availability of funds — not guaranteed. This means that for this upcoming year, CHS was expecting $125,000 from July 2025 to June 2026 and will now only be receiving $100,000.

“That doesn’t give us a long off-ramp to go get $25,000,” Hood said. “Our cost has risen each year. I’m concerned that my impact will be affected per patient. The cost of doing business isn’t slowing down, it’s increasing.”

She said healthcare in general is challenged, with over 575,000 Coloradans losing Medicaid for a number of different reasons since COVID-19. She also noted that she’s seeing a lot of CHS’ partners — including Aspen Valley Hospital, local foundations, and local municipalities — also having to tighten their belts and scale back support.

“A lot of this, it feels like we’re going uphill, like it’s a constant battle to retain funds or write grants,” Hood said. “I have limited resources. Philanthropy is more important than ever in our clinic’s history. It will definitely soften the impact for those who need a safety net clinic so we can continue to offer a baseline of services.”

According to its website, CHS had 2,571 visits in 2024, with 1,614 “unduplicated clients.”

Those interested in making a charitable donation to the clinic can visit coloradogives.org/organization/AspenCommunityHealthServices.