In the summer and fall of 2023, our Alliance led an issue identification process in Montrose County’s West End as part of our Homegrown Prosperity work. Many issues surfaced, and given that other groups were already working on housing and economic development, our leaders decided to tackle healthcare access.
It’s no secret that rural communities face unique challenges to accessing adequate healthcare. The crisis of healthcare access in the West End escalated when Montrose Memorial Hospital stopped operating the Basin Clinic in 2013, leaving the clinic struggling to survive on its own and no longer able to provide 24-hour emergency services. Local EMS volunteers have described the experience of watching the clock tick on patients’ lives with ambulance trips taking at least two hours and helicopters often unable to fly due to weather.

West End residents also struggle to access adequate preventive and chronic care services and specialty care providers, often traveling more than four hours round-trip for basic healthcare. Residents have very limited access to any kind of mental health services and no in-person mental health crisis support.
Despite previous efforts to bring healthcare solutions to the region, no real traction has been gained. It can be incredibly daunting to tackle an issue of this magnitude. However, our leaders haven’t shied away from the task and are engaged in action-oriented research to get a handle on some of what’s driving their unique challenges and begin to identify winnable, local solutions.

Here is how Cliff Allred, who grew up in Naturita and has recently moved home, describes his experience as a member of the West End Healthcare Committee: “It tends to be difficult for me to translate between the ideas that motivate me to get involved in political or community work, and the actual, concrete steps that can be taken to further a goal. I experienced this quite a bit down in Phoenix, where I would volunteer for political campaigns, and at one point served on a church board, and at no point did I feel like I was doing more than going through the motions.

“Now, I realize that Rachel has, in large part, been training us on the process of grassroots organizing — how to set goals, what questions to ask, how to figure out the steps needed to achieve the goals. I appreciate this a great deal. I’m finding the process to be far more engaging and relevant than what I’ve experienced before.

“I’m not sure I have any real expectations regarding the outcome. What gives me hope, though, is the feeling of being able to get traction with the problems in our community.”

The West End is no stranger to coming together as a community and solving tough problems. Local leaders have vision, passion and skill and are committed to a long-term goal of ensuring the communities of the West End of Montrose County have the care and resources they need, where they live, to lead healthy lives. We are building relationships with local providers, healthcare experts, and county commissioners, and exploring solutions to create sustainable revenue streams to support adequate local healthcare facilities. Continued grassroots organizing efforts can keep the West End on a path to winning local solutions, grounded in community self-determination.