Denver, CO – Last night, HB22-1267, the “Culturally Relevant Healthcare Training Act”,  made its final passage through the Colorado General Assembly and is now on its way to Governor Polis’ desk. One Colorado, the state’s leading advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Coloradans and their families, released the following statements:

“We are so happy to see this bill make its way to the Governor’s desk and grateful to the legislators who supported it. I want to thank the bill sponsors in the House and Senate, Reps. A. Valdez and Boesenecker and Sens. Fields and Ginal, for their unwavering efforts to see this bill through legislative session. Culturally responsive provider training addresses health inequities. We know that 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. This bill creates brave spaces for our community members to be fully seen and receive the healthcare that they deserve.  Today is a victory for equality.” ‍

– Nadine Bridges, MSW (she/her), One Colorado Executive Director

“I believe that a qualified, diverse, and culturally responsive health care workforce is essential to meeting the needs of our diverse membership and achieving health equity goals. This bill seeks to establish robust training opportunities for healthcare providers to ensure BIPOC communities are included in receiving the highest level of care, especially those who have experienced historical, systemic discrimination. I am supporting HB22-1267 so that racial and BIPOC communities, LGBTQ folks, veterans, and those with complex behavioral health needs will be able to access the quality healthcare they deserve.”

‍–Senator Rhonda Fields (she/her), SD-29, Senate Assistant Majority Leader and Co-Prime Sponsor

"Healthcare providers in Colorado are treating people, not just patients. This is an excellent bill to build on development of culturally relevant and affirming healthcare programs. It’s about time that we recognize these issues and make this training available.”

‍–Senator Joann Ginal (she/her), SD-14, Co-Prime Sponsor

The bill creates a grant program to fund the development of culturally relevant, affirming healthcare training programs for healthcare providers. Training programs will be created by approved nonprofits and statewide provider associations and will be available to all licensed, certified, or registered healthcare professionals. These training programs will focus on providing care to priority populations identified in the bill, including but not limited to LGBTQ+ individuals, people of color, veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and people with disabilities. Co-prime sponsors of HB22-1267 in the House are Representative Alex Valdez (HD-5) and Representative Andrew Boesenecker (HD-53).

‍One Colorado’s bill signing dates are forthcoming. Please stay tuned.

###