Sue Birch, Executive Director

Date appointed: 12/31/10

Senate Committee hearing date: February 2, 2011

Senate Committee hearing vote: Passed Committee hearing vote - 9-0

Senate vote date: February 9, 2011

Senate vote: Confirmed - 32-0-3

Salary: $150,000
 

"Sue Birch has made herself an expert on how to provide medical care in rural areas with limited budgets,” Gov. John Hickenlooper said. “Her regional and collaborative approach will serve well to address health care issues on a statewide basis."

Birch is now the Chief Executive Officer of the Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association in Steamboat Springs. She also helped start Club 20’s Health Care task force, which focused on Western Slope health care challenges. The task force evolved into Healthy 58, uniting 58 non-metro counties from the state on improving health care.

Birch has worked the past 17 years for the Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association, expanding programs, developing strategic partnerships and strengthening the association’s operations. The agency is moving into a nurse-led model of integrated community health services including primary care, home and hospice care, public health and aging services.

Before moving to Northwest Colorado, Birch served at Georgetown University Hospital and in a variety of progressive nursing roles with Kaiser Permanente in Colorado. She is a trustee of the Caring for Colorado Foundation, and the Colorado Health Institute and a past president of the Home Care Association of Colorado.

Birch recently completed an appointment to the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services, had a Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Livingston Fellowship and the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellowship. She earned a nursing degree and a master’s degree in business administration, both from the University of Colorado.

About the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing:

The Department administers the Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) programs as well as a variety of other programs for Colorado’s low-income families, the elderly and persons with disabilities. In September 2010, there were 541,285 clients in Medicaid and 69,973 clients in the CHP+ program.