Annual Report

In this year's edition of the Colorado Public Health Association's (CPHA) Annual Report, I extend a heartfelt welcome to all who are privileged to partake in this reflection. Your presence here signifies not only resilience, but a remarkable journey through tumultuous times—navigating the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, confronting the profound reckoning with racial injustice that has stirred our global consciousness, and, perhaps, discovering meaningful insights about yourselves amidst the pervasive burnout that has defined these years in public health...

It has been an historic year for the Colorado Public Health Association as the following pages will attest. In 2021, as we faced down rampant misinformation and disinformation campaigns, anti-public health movements, political polarization, and the parallel pandemics of COVID-19 and endemic racism, I declared that Colorado needed an empowered, unified, and mobilized public health more than ever and CPHA has answered that call...

Much has transpired in the past year that will leave us, our nation, and world, forever changed. We are still reeling from the impacts of a global pandemic, endemic racism, rampant disinformation, political polarization, and a backlash against our profession. Much was asked of our workforce and we courageously answered the call; but not without cost. Public health professionals are experiencing higher rates of exhaustion, despair, and mental health decline than ever before...