Colorado Social Emergency Medicine Collaborative

The Levitt Center and the Colorado Social Emergency Medicine Collaborative (“CSEMC”) have joined forces to expand the practice of social emergency medicine (SEM) to a broader health community, including hospitals, community partners, social workers, emergency services providers and other stakeholders in Colorado and California.  The CSEMC was established by Dr. Jason Houkoos and several other Emergency Medicine (EM) practitioners  at Denver Health, EM practitioners from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and healthcare providers from other organizations in the Denver, Colorado area.  The Collaborative supports SEM research and engages in SEM programs in partnerships with community and local hospital organizations. 

The Levitt Center and CSEMC both recognize that although successful SEM projects and programs have been established by many dedicated practitioners and hospitals, efforts are often siloed and there is no effective way to coordinate activities and share information with others interested in establishing similar SEM programs.  The goal is to work together to coordinate SEM activities. We hope to synergize efforts to address social needs and create systems together to allow effective access to SEM resources.  Initial projects include the development of a repository of SEM resources that will allow for the sharing of information among hospitals and practitioners nationally, and working with local government, EMS services, EM practitioners and local community groups in the Denver area to develop more effective systems for addressing emergency medical needs of unhoused populations.

The project is being led by the Levitt Center Medical Director and board member Dr. Kristen Nordenholz, Dr. Jennifer Whitfield, an EM Physician at Denver Health and Associate Professor of EM at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and Levitt Center Co-Founder and Director of Research Dr. Harrison Alter.

Click HERE for more information on the Colorado Social Emergency Medicine Collaborative