STRIDE is a 501(c) (3) Community Health Center (CHC) with a 31-year history of providing integrated health services to people in need in a community-based setting. Services include primary medical care, oral health, behavioral health, health education, wrap around services, and pharmacy services.
STRIDE Community Health Center (STRIDE) is a nonprofit organization and has integrated health services to the underserved since 1989. STRIDE's mission is to partner with the community to provide excellent, culturally sensitive health services to meet the needs of each individual. Our vision is to see individuals empowered to live the lives they want through personalized, compassionate health care.
From a single clinic in 1989, STRIDE has grown into a large, integrated health care delivery system providing primary medical care, oral health, and behavioral health services. STRIDE offers a broad range of wrap around services and supports for pregnant women, adolescents, homeless individuals, patients with HIV, and Refugees. STRIDE addresses the need for affordable and accessible integrated care among low-income, uninsured, and underserved populations residing outside the city and county of Denver. STRIDE operates 15 community-based health centers, including three School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs) in Jefferson County and a mobile health unit that provides medical and oral health services to vulnerable populations in the community. The target population for the organizations' service delivery is those individuals living below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) within STRIDE's 5-county service area. In FY2019, STRIDE provided healthcare and related services to 51,364 individuals.
All 15 STRIDE health center locations are currently recognized as Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMH) by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, Inc.(AAAHC). MCPN's service area encompasses Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas, Jefferson, and Park Counties and the cities of Arvada, Aurora, Englewood, Lakewood, Parker, and Wheat Ridge.
STRIDE specifically focuses on providing linkages to care at shelters, motels, food pantries, and other areas where the homeless congregate, to serve as a bridge to much-needed primary medical care, dental care, and behavioral health services. To help deepen the community collaborations around behavioral health services, STRIDE has three co-located health centers with its community mental health center partner - Jefferson Center - in Jefferson County. These efforts support heightened linkages to primary care for those patients with chronic behavioral health issues, including opioid use disorders.
Dear Community Partners and Supporters,
My name is Ben Wiederholt and I am the President and CEO of STRIDE Community Health Center. I have an unusual combination of graduate degrees in Theology and Healthcare Administration and I am a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. My entry into healthcare began in the field of mission integration, where I had responsibilities for departments like community health improvement, spiritual care, volunteers, transitional and post-acute care, and service excellence. After ten years of mission leadership, I transitioned into operations and I most recently served at Centura Health as St. Anthony Hospital's Director of Ambulatory Operations. On the personal side, family life keeps me busy as my wife Jess and I have seven children- three by birth and four by adoption from Ethiopia and Uganda. I also enjoy almost any athletic competition, both as an observer and practitioner.
The reason I pursued this opportunity at STRIDE is captured in a single word: IMPACT. I believe we have the greatest impact on individual and community health when we find ourselves at the intersection of people's life circumstances and the extent to which their well being allows them to pursue the life they desire to live. At STRIDE, we have the privilege to share that space with our patients everyday. We need new solutions to address the multiple ailments of our healthcare delivery system. I am convinced that STRIDE is well positioned to lead with our unique care delivery model, and our proven ability to reduce costs and improve outcomes.
I look forward to working with community partners like you to advance our mission on behalf of the people in our community that are counting on us.
Sincerely,
Ben Wiederholt
STRIDE CHC President and CEO
