Kristin Kelley’s first weeks as Ouray County’s new public health director tested her forte and favorite part of the job — building up community partnerships and ensuring equal access to care — as she helped respond to a series of floods that triggered disaster declarations in the county.
Just after starting on Aug. 1, she worked closely with state emergency response personnel and local groups such as Tri-County Health Network to contact affected residents and help mitigate potential public health hazards such as mold and water quality issues.
Kelley brings the priorities of health equity, which is ensuring equal access to health care, and developing partnerships from her previous role with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. As a western regional coordinator she worked in conjunction with local health hubs to distribute COVID-19 vaccines in rural areas, including in Ouray County.
Though the most clear-cut public health emergency in decades is in the rearview mirror, she believes it underlined broader health inequities that she’s eager to tackle.
One of those things is improving mental health care access, something county commissioners already tasked her with in August.
The task also requires bringing together community partners and hinges on making sure everyone has access to health care. It also aligns with the philosophy she was taught as a nurse: considering a patient as a whole person. She became an active registered nurse in 2009 and has served in a variety of roles on the Western Slope since then.
“Once a nurse, always a nurse…it’s mind, body, spirit and I think that is the view that I bring to things,” she said.
Just last week she posted a list of regional mental health care providers that are open to new patients from a Communities That Care Fair hosted last December. She also attended her first meeting with the program, which will be a key local partner in strengthening access to local mental health resources.
“There are fantastic people here, don’t get me wrong, but there are also fantastic people outside of our community and community organizations that are doing great work,” she said. “By partnering with them we can better serve our own community.”
The Fort Collins native moved to Ouray County from Denver last year because she wanted to live in the territory she served. She resides with a retired breeding flock of babydoll sheep, which she bred for about 10 years on the side. Looking after these geriatric sheep is just another way she considers herself a caretaker, she said.
Of all of the six counties under her purview during her time at CDPHE, she said Ouray County stood out not just because of the scenery, but because of the community.
She hopes to keep meshing with and learning from the community in many ways. She fondly remembers the chance to partner with the county’s Public Health Nurse Becca Doll-Tyler for an event at Ouray County Pride this summer.
Though she’s ready to take on the new — tackling mental health and new partnerships, and even learn Spanish to expand communication — she is grateful for the strong, existing public health department team and programs, which recently moved from its former home in a rented space in Ouray into an office next to Ouray County Human Services at 185 Sherman St., Unit 103, in Ridgway.
She is also excited about how synergy between the side-by-side services can better help the community.
Right now, the health department is gearing up for vaccine season and continues to provide subsidized nutritional programs for women and children and free harm-reduction resources such as condoms, fentanyl test strips and naloxone to reverse drug overdoses.
She encourages people to stop by for services and wants the community to know she is available beyond her behindthe- desk duties.
“I want them to know that we’re here to serve. And I’m happy to speak to anybody, anywhere, but I want them to know that, you know, this is a place for them,” she said.
Lia Salvatierra is a journalist with Report for America, a service program that helps boost underserved areas with more reporting resources.
