Children’s Hospital Colorado Breathing Institute

Children's Hospital Colorado (CHCO) is a private, not-for-profit pediatric healthcare network dedicated 100 percent to caring for kids. CHCO’s Pulmonary Department, known as The Breathing Institute, is nationally recognized for their work with patients who have asthma and other complex respiratory and related illnesses. The Asthma Program, started in 2006, has expanded and supports comprehensive community asthma care through several initiatives. Their team focuses on a four-county area home to approximately 525,000 children. These counties are all diverse, with minority populations ranging from 20 percent to 70 percent and up to 25 percent of children living in poverty. Environmental remediation is accomplished through a thorough home assessment, planned with the family and implemented by community health workers with nurse support to assess asthma control. Because children typically spend a third of their day at school potentially exposed to multiple asthma triggers, CHCO incorporates EPA’s Tools for Schools Indoor Air Quality Framework into their comprehensive school program. The environmental components of CHCO’s asthma program are funded through two mechanisms: a grant using state tobacco tax revenue and an innovative funding stream from Colorado Medicaid, which is focused on improving care and outcomes for Medicaid patients across Colorado. CHCO has seen impressive results with a 24 percent decrease in school absenteeism, significant improvements in asthma control, and decreased emergency department visits and hospitalizations.