U.S. Rep. Jason Crow asks Joanne Accardi questions about the “street medicine” program she oversees at the Stride Community Health Center in Aurora on Feb. 21, 2025. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline)
Jean Sisneros went to her first appointment at the Stride Community Health Center 10 years ago as an uninsured mother of five.
She said getting treated at the center changed her life, because Stride’s providers “didn’t just treat my symptoms, they treated me like a person” — and Stride only had the resources to help her because of their funding through Medicaid.
“I never imagined I would have to fight for something as basic as health care,” Sisneros said. “Medicaid is not just a line item in a budget. It’s a lifeline. It’s the difference between getting medication or rationing it.”
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Stride Community Health Center is a federally qualified health center, meaning it will provide care to everyone “regardless of their ability to pay,” according to Dr. Megan Adamson, deputy chief medical officer. The center has 12 clinics throughout the Denver metro area and serves 52,000 patients annually. Adamson said Medicaid allows the clinic’s patients to access health care without having to sacrifice their basic needs, and losing Medicaid would lead to “devastating health outcomes.”
“Healthcare is not a privilege. It is a basic human right, and Medicaid is one of the strongest tools we have to ensure that right is upheld,” Adamson said.
Republican budget proposals in Congress could roll back how much money the federal government provides to match states for Medicaid, a joint health care program for people with low incomes or disabilities that covers 1 in 5 people living in the U.S.
U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a Centennial Democrat, joined fellow Democrats in warning about the consequences the proposed cuts could have for people across the country during a news conference at Stride’s Aurora clinic Friday.
Cuts to Medicaid “would save no money,” because clinics like Stride reduce health care spending overall, Crow said. If someone can access preventative care, they are less likely to develop symptoms serious enough to warrant a hospital visit. He described Stride’s services as “the front line of health care” in the community, and estimated 115,000 of his constituents in the 6th Congressional District rely on Medicaid.
“If somebody can come here and get preventative care, somebody can come here early and stop a disease from spreading and expanding, everybody pays less,” Crow said. “And that means people can work, that they can contribute to our community. It is an investment that helps everybody.”
Allison Draayer, business development manager at Stride, said when their patients lose access to Medicaid, Stride still treats them, but the clinic will no longer get reimbursed for providing their care.
“If somebody doesn’t have insurance, we are their last primary care stop,” she said.
Stride also has a “street medicine” team who walk around looking for homeless encampments and help connect patients in need of care with providers via a telehealth call. Joanne Accardi, medical director of convenient care and street medicine, said the team will also enroll the patients in Medicaid on the spot if they are eligible. Last year, Accardi said the street medicine program helped 7,000 people.
If the clinic loses Medicaid funding, Draayer said Stride won’t be able to operate the street medicine program.
Republicans in Congress need to hear the stories of how decisions made in Washington D.C. affect real people, Crow said. While Crow said previous town halls he’s held in his district have peaked at just under 500 attendees, 1,600 people signed up for his first in-person town hall under the new administration next week.
Crow said he “is ready to fight like hell” to ensure the clinic has the funding it needs to keep serving patients. Adamson urged policymakers and health care leaders to continue to support and strengthen Medicaid.
Sisneros said she is “standing here today because my community health center stood for me.”
“Stride saved my life,” she said. “Now we must stand for them.”
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