By Erin Wheeler
In April 2024, Colorado Public Radio reported that Colorado is ranked the second-fastest-growing state for older adults in America, preceded only by Alaska. By 2030, Colorado’s population of adults 65 years and older is expected to grow by 317,000 people, which marks a 36% increase from 2020 to 2030, according to State Demography Office estimates.
With the state’s population growing older, multiple sources have reported that health care services for seniors are struggling to keep up.
Steve Vogel, owner of home health care company Brightstar Care in Colorado Springs, told KKTV in a March 25, 2024, news article that it can be a challenge to attract and hire people. The article stated, “He also acknowledged there is a shortage of health care workers.”
Dayton Romero, Silver Key Senior Services director of health and wellness services, told FOX21 News in a June 2021 interview, “A shortage area in the industry ripples to families who are having to step up and take care of mom, grandma and being pulled away from their job.”
Now, almost four years since that statement, Silver Key Senior Services chief executive officer and president, Jason DeaBueno, told The New Falcon Herald, “We do continue to struggle with access to care for older adults.” DeaBueno attributed much of the struggle to a lack of health transportation services and senior housing. He said he thinks the health of seniors as a whole could be effectively improved by addressing social determinants of health (like connecting with others in the community). Silver Key currently serves 68 unique individuals in the Falcon area.
Also working to combat these issues is Rocky Mountain PACE, a health organization that has plans to expand senior services to Falcon as soon as the spring of 2025, pending state approval, said Debbie Baum, the director of People Experience for Pace.
Parts of the senior health care shortcomings were predicted many years ago.
An October 2016 report by the State Demography Office listed “meeting healthcare demand” as a “potential issue to keep an eye on” considering the aging population ahead. According to the report, “It will be important for the state, as well as individual communities, to ensure they can attract and retain a skilled workforce to meet these demands.”
An Age Wise Colorado Aug. 16, 2024, article, “JAWS” Strategy Seeks to Address Colorado’s Critical Shortage of Long-Term Care Workers” stated the following: “Research statistics indicate that by year 2030, the caregiver shortage may reach 115,000 in Colorado, at which time the state’s 65-plus population will have climbed to 1.2 million.”
Still, Colorado has ranked among the best places in the nation to grow old. On May 30, 2024, upon being recognized by the American Public Health Association as the second-best state in America for senior health and wellness, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said, “Colorado is one of the best states in the country to live and age, and that’s not by accident. We’ve taken a number of steps to provide older Coloradans, and people of all ages, with the support they need to thrive in our great state. This ranking is a reflection of all the work we’ve done, and motivation to get Colorado to No. 1.”
