Funding Opportunities for Family Physician Practices

The CAFP understands how time intensive it is to search and apply for grant opportunities to support ongoing practice transformation and development to best meet your patients’ needs. That is why we have compiled the available funding opportunities through the State of Colorado and Federal government for family physician practices.

The Colorado Health Foundation is seeking to increase the number of individuals working within Colorado’s primary healthcare workforce who reflect the diverse patient population served by the state’s safety net system and/or who are committed to serving rural and frontier communities.

  • Details: Application submission deadline is October 15, 2024
  • Eligible organizations: Community-based organizations, safety net clinics, Area Health Education Centers (AHECs), Community colleges, universities or other accredited educational institutions, Partnerships between employers and schools/training programs
  • Funding can be used for: Dedicated staffing to support proposed program, small capital expenditures such as equipment or technology to enhance the training program, marketing outreach for recruitment, paid internships, subsidies for child care, housing or transportation costs, providing incentives for individuals completing training programs with priority going to lower paying positions, scholarships or tuition

CO Department of Public Health and the Environment: Healthcare Workers Recruitment and Re-engagement Fund The purpose of this grant is to incentivize and assist employers in the recruitment of different licensed healthcare professionals to employment in long-term care facilities (LTCF), facilities with a Healthcare Professional Shortage Area Designation, and pediatric-serving hospitals. If a facility successfully recruits a licensed professional who has left the healthcare industry and will work 20 hours per week or more on average for a minimum of six months, the facility is eligible to receive a one-time payment of $20,000 per professional re-engaged.

  • Details: Application submission deadline is the last Friday of every month
  • Eligible organizations: Long-term care facilities, Hold official federal designation as a health professional shortage area, Hospitals that serve pediatric population.
  • Funding can be used for: The Healthcare Workforce Recruitment and Re-engagement Fund incentivizes creative retention ideas. These may include signing bonuses, child care and transportation stipends, tuition reimbursements, and employee health and wellness programs. A full list of suggestions can be found in the Allowables Roadmap on this website.

Care Forward Colorado Zero-cost, short-term training programs at community and technical colleges.

  • Details: Starting in Fall 2022, students who enroll in one certain healthcare certificate programs will have tuition, fees, and course materials covered as Care Forward Colorado funding allows.

Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Accelerate Apprenticeship Grant Encourages employer adoption of registered apprenticeship in the state of Colorado. A registered apprenticeship program includes these five elements: (1.) On-the-job learning, (2.) Related instruction, (3.) Progressive wage increase, (4.) Mentorship, and (5.) Registration with US Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship or State
Apprenticeship Agency

  • Details: Employers not yet involved in a registered apprenticeship receive: $5,000 once they register their own or join an existing apprenticeship program and hire an apprentice and $2,500 once they retain an apprentice for six months. Applications will be collected on a rolling basis until funds run out or the grant period of performance ends (3/1/2025).
  • FAQ document

Colorado Health Care Policy and Financing Primary Care Fund  Annual grant opportunity to support community clinics and primary care providers by awarding funding based on the number of medically indigent patients the provider serves. Applications for the dissemination of funds from the Primary Care Fund are processed once a year.

  • General Timeline: Application released in January, Intent to apply in April, Final application materials due May
  • Awards range from $7,000 – $3,000,000

Funding for Medicaid and OmniSalud transition from the Colorado Safety Net Collaboration and BRIDGE Healthcare Partners, LLC is designed to assist safety net clinics implement processes related to the expansion of Health First Colorado (Medicaid) programs and
OmniSalud (private insurance for those without citizenship).

  • Details: Applicants must –


    • Serve predominantly Medicaid and uninsured patients (more than 60%)

    • Not be a Federally Qualified Health Center or a designated Rural Health Center

    • Become or are a member of the CO Safety Net Clinics.  They can contact Phyllis Albritton <cosafetynet@clinicacolorado.org> if they are interested in becoming a member

Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations Prescription Drug Monitoring Program / Electronic Health Record Integration One-time program to support clinicians update their electronic health record system to integrate the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.

  • Details: Interested practices should email OpiSafe directly with the following information:
    • Email: Marybeth@opisafe.com
    • Re: PDMP-EHR Connection Opportunity
    • Practice Name:
    • Number of prescribers (who need to be able to check PDMP):
    • Name of EHR system:
    • Accept Medicaid clients (yes/no):
  • Emailing OpiSafe does NOT obligate you to participate, or to continue to use the free connection and software after the one-year paid period; you may use it for a year and then cancel if you decide not to continue. OpiSafe is endorsed by Colorado Medicaid and used by many major health systems in Colorado including SCL Health, Denver Health, Children’s Hospital Colorado, etc., plus many smaller hospitals and clinics. You may reach Mary Beth Savory at Opisafe (marybeth@opisafe.com) for a system demo or with any questions you may have about this opportunity, or view this information from Health First Colorado.

Medicaid (HCPF) has created a subsidized license program for their Prescriber Tool, which also includes OpiSafe, and the cost of the software is paid by HCPF for a period of one year (thereafter paid by the practice at an affordable rate, should you choose to continue). Email at the details above.

Colorado Department of Revenue Rural & Frontier Preceptor Tax Credit Yearly tax credit of $2,000 tax credit against taxes owed per income year for an eligible preceptorship provided during the tax year in which the credit is claimed. Eligible individuals can claim up to three credits for a total credit of $6,000.

  • Details: Only preceptors working in a rural or frontier designated county are eligible for the tax credit.
  • More information can be found here.

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) is starting a new pilot project with the Ardmore Institute of Health titled Whole Person Health Champion Pilot Project. This project aims to improve health by combining lifestyle medicine, public health, community collaboration, health equity, and whole person health. 

  • Details: The AAFP will fund (3) three family medicine practices to participate in an 8-month pilot program. The program is designed to explore community partnerships and support family medicine practices to align with the varying community systems required to deliver a whole person health approach. Using the pillars of lifestyle medicine as foundational knowledge, this project will focus on identifying the health-related social needs of patients in the clinic and connecting them with resources in the community.  
  • Eligibility: Current member of the American Academy of Family Physicians; Experienced in implementing lifestyle medicine concepts into their practice and/or patient treatment plans; Ability to commit to 8-month pilot program, including attendance at events such as kick off meeting, quarterly calls, reporting requirements, in person attendance at Lifestyle Medicine Conference. 

The Protect and Expand Contraceptive Access funding opportunity is available to Colorado-based primary care safety net clinics and local health agencies with contraceptive care programs. The opportunity will be available to safety net clinics, including Federally Qualified Health Centers, independent safety net clinics, school-based health centers, and local health agencies with existing contraceptive care programs to improve contraceptive access systems and influence broader policy change for reproductive equity.

Colorado Behavioral Health Administration Care Continuum Gap Grants Rolling grant opportunities to address identified behavioral health-care needs in the applicants community.

  • Details: Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, federally recognized Indian tribes, and local governments. A total of $90 million available in three focus areas.
    • Community Investment Grants: This can be used to recruit and train professionals as navigators for individuals and facilitate transfer of care by developing relationships across levels of care.
    • Children, Youth and Family Grants: To expand children-orientated, youth-oriented, and family-oriented services with the goal of establishing a care access point
    • Substance Use Workforce Stability Grant Program: To support direct staff who spend more than 50% of their time working with clients. Support can mean temporary salary increases, recruitment and retention bonuses, and other strategies to support staff.
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