Colorado Health Service Corps
Our Mission
Driven to Serve Colorado
Colorado Health Service Corps (CHSC) clinicians are motivated to help people in Colorado by providing comprehensive medical care in the state's safety net, which includes various health care services for residents and communities who may not otherwise have access to care.
We offer health care professionals relief from student loan debt while they provide care for Coloradans with the greatest needs.
Empowering Clinicians, Supporting Coloradans
The Colorado Health Service Corps helps qualified clinicians to follow their passions and serve Coloradans.
By repaying the educational loan debt of qualified clinicians in exchange for service at one of more than 540 qualifying clinical sites across the state, the CHSC helps reduce debt burden while improving health outcomes for all Coloradans.
The CHSC awards up to $120,000 for a three-year commitment at a practice with a clinician shortage, serving low-income, publicly insured, uninsured, or rural Coloradans.
Potential applicants and partner organizations can find more details about CHSC award amounts, eligibility requirements, the application process, the site certification process, and helpful resources below on the How to Apply and Become a Partner pages.
Where CHSC Clinicians Serve
Our clinicians practice at more than 540 CHSC-certified sites throughout Colorado.
All CHSC-certified sites:
Are located in a designated Health Professional Shortage Area.
Provide comprehensive primary medical, oral health, behavioral health, or substance use disorder treatment services.
Accept all patients regardless of ability to pay and offer a sliding fee scale for those at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
Accept patients on public insurance (including Medicare, Medicaid, and CHP+) or uninsured patients.
Find out more about CHSC-certified sites, including how administrators at your clinic can apply for certification.
CHSC Clinician Contributions to Care
Since Colorado created the CHSC in 2009, thousands of licensed clinicians have participated in the program. Congratulations to our recent awardees who are joining or renewing commitments to our corps of clinicians currently serving in health professional shortage areas throughout the state.
1,892
Current and alumni CHSC clinicians
3.7M
Visits CHSC clinicians have provided to underserved Coloradans
4,000+
Total years of obligated service for underserved communities
Colorado’s Underserved Communities
Despite significant gains in coverage achieved through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, hundreds of thousands of Coloradans who use safety net clinics as their regular source of care continue to be medically underserved.
Medically underserved communities in Colorado include those impacted by socio-economic and cultural determinants of health, which can inhibit connections and access to care. Coloradans are considered medically underserved if they have any one or more of the following characteristics: income below 300% of the federal poverty level, no insurance, enrollment in a publicly financed health insurance program or high deductible health plan, geographic isolation, no regular source of primary care, cultural, language, and other social barriers (Colorado Health Institute, 2016).
Access to primary medical, oral, and behavioral health care is necessary for good health. However, in Colorado, nearly one million residents reside in communities with fewer than half of the primary care clinicians needed to provide essential health care services effectively.
Changing Lives: Reflections From the Field
“As a pediatrician working in a safety net clinic, you go home every day knowing that you are making health care better and affecting the lives of people and children in your community.
The patients that we serve come from really diverse backgrounds… What I think many of them are looking for is that we can connect along those lines. So, I have a lot of East African patients who come to me specifically because my family heritage is East African.
As a woman of color, I understand what it means for patients to be able to see themselves in their physician. I know where they’re coming from, so I think that closes that trust gap.
I always knew I wanted to serve this population. The big question was how to do that and pay off my school loans, and the answer was the Colorado Health Service Corps.”
— Sophia Meharena, DO, CHSC Alum
“It’s so important to have diversity in health care because our communities are so diverse.
There’s just a lot of Hispanics that are so scared of going out there and maybe getting people that don’t understand them. I feel like with me working here, the Hispanic community is taking better care of themselves - not just healthwise, but dental-wise as well.
If you’re someone who wants to make a difference, you’re needed here in these communities all across Colorado.”
— Lorena Rodríguez, RDH, CHSC Alum
How to Apply
CHSC is open to qualified health professionals who offer primary medical, oral, and behavioral health care, as well as substance use disorder treatment services.
The CHSC application cycle is open every March and September. During these months, you can complete an application on the Colorado Department of Public Health's website. To be eligible, you must be employed at an approved site by the first day of the current application cycle. Find more information on our page for prospective applicants.
The next application cycle will be open from September 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024.
As the CHSC expands to reach more Coloradans, additional clinicians are needed who are seeking mission-driven careers supporting medically underserved communities.
Health professional training programs and CHSC-certified sites can help increase the diversity of the applicant pool of driven CHSC applicants by sharing information about our clinicians’ work and our loan repayment opportunity with health professions students and licensed health professionals. Find additional information and resources for CHSC partner organizations, advisors to health professions students, and administrators or recruiters at CHSC-certified sites on our Partnerships page.