LiveWell Alamosa

LiveWell Alamosa began in 2005 as a group working on a non-competitive planning grant offered by Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition (COPAN) to increase physical activity and nutrition in Alamosa County. The community embraced the opportunity and the project has evolved into a full-fledged community partnership headed up by Valley-Wide Health Systems, Inc. (VWHS or Valley-Wide).

VWHS, a community/migrant health center, is a private non-profit corporation governed by a volunteer community board.  It has thirteen primary health care delivery sites strategically located throughout southern Colorado.  These primary care clinics are joined by six dental clinics and a milieu of ancillary health services to address the needs of the patient population.   Valley-Wide Health Systems is committed to providing safe and effective health care services with special consideration for medically underserved populations.  Fueled by a passion to provide health care for all people, Valley-Wide has become a national leader in the health care field and a model for rural, comprehensive, community-based health care.

The collaborators hold to a vision of success where Alamosa County is a place in which people have a positive attitude about physical activity and nutrition and are actively engaged in healthy behaviors as individuals, employees, families, and communities. Workplaces, schools, and the community environment fully support physical activity and healthy eating; and there are varied and plentiful opportunities that are affordable and accessible for all people and cultures. The results are that people of Alamosa County have healthy BMI’s and are physically and mentally healthier; the community is healthier with increased active transport, community gardens and less cars; and students are succeeding, have good test scores, and are graduating at higher rates.

This is a healthy undertaking as the proportion of overweight and obese people in the rural and economically depressed SLV at 29% mirrors higher obesity-rate states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska compared to Colorado, which remains under 19%. LiveWell Alamosa has important partnerships with VHWS, Women, Infant and Children (WIC) nutrition program and La Leche League, Alamosa County Nursing Service, The SLV Boys and Girls Club, CSU Extension, San Luis Valley Mental Health, the Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center, Alamosa School District, Sangre de Cristo School District, SLV Regional Medical Center, Alamosa Greenhouse and Community Gardens, Alamosa Senior Center, the Healthy Aging Network and many smaller partnerships. These partners have selected healthy eating active living (HEAL) strategies in each of the LiveWell sectors; including breastfeeding, early child care, schools, the active community environment, health care, worksites, healthy food opportunities and older adults.

Contact Information
Valley Wide Health Systems, Inc.
Liza Marron
O: 719.587.1034
C: 719.539.5606
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