Our History & Impact
Where We Began
Our story began with the Chanda Plan Foundation, when Chanda and her sister, Crystal Hinton, established a non-profit in 2005 to remove financial barriers to healthcare by providing integrative therapies at minimal cost. Through partnerships with community-based providers, participants were able to access services that were often otherwise out of reach. At this early stage, care was delivered across a wide network of independent locations and the Foundation observed inconsistency with service quality, standards of care, and even familiarity delivering care to participants with disabilities. Conversations with participants, providers, and community stakeholders revealed a new priority: a coordinated and accessible model of care designed specifically for people with disabilities.
Expanding Access Through Policy Change
Improving access to care meant addressing more than service delivery — it required Medicaid reform.
In 2009, the Chanda Plan Foundation, alongside a volunteer lobbyist and supportive policymakers, helped advance changes in the Colorado state legislation. This effort led Colorado Medicaid to establish the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Waiver, allowing eligible participants to receive coverage for massage therapy, acupuncture, and chiropractic services, all integrative therapies not typically covered by Medicaid in Colorado or elsewhere.
Over the next decade, the waiver was evaluated by independent researchers to measure its impact on Coloradans, both to their everyday lives and on the state budget. The reported findings confirmed what we had seen through direct experience: access to integrative therapies led to better health outcomes and lower overall healthcare costs.
Started Onsite Services & Become a Medicaid Provider
With inconsistency, quality control and navigating care across multiple locations, individuals began experiencing fragmented experiences. In 2013, thanks to a transformational contribution from a major donor, we brought services under one roof. This marked an evolution for the Chanda Plan Foundation and our commitment to equitable healthcare. During this time, the Chanda Plan Foundation became a Medicaid provider due to limited integrative therapy providers comfortable serving individuals with disabilities, and the need for a centralized place to receive care. In response, the Chanda Center for Health was founded in April 2017.
The Chanda Center for Health is Established
While advocacy efforts driven by the Chanda team successfully added funding for these important therapies, the problems on the provider side of fragmentation and inconsistency remained. Following a multi-year fundraising campaign, in April 2017 the Chanda Center for Health opened its doors in Lakewood, CO. The Center created a first-of-its-kind, fully integrated hub for care coordination and delivery, which transformed the way participants experience and engage in their healthcare.
The Center was designed as a one-stop, nonprofit integrative health center, where individuals can access a wide range of services in one location from disability-competent healthcare professionals. This coordinated model improves health outcomes, enhances quality of life, and supports long-term wellness through proactive and preventive healthcare.
Continued Advocacy and Access
In 2021, Chanda continued engagement with lawmakers to enhance access to the SCI waiver, which was established with limitations on geography (Denver metro area) and the target population (only spinal cord injuries). The success of this initial waiver in achieving quality-of-life outcomes allowed for an expansion of benefits under a renamed Medicaid waiver: the Complementary and Integrative Health (CIH) Waiver. The material changes that were passed into law included:
- Broadened eligibility to include additional diagnoses
- Expanded access statewide for all of Colorado
- Strengthened the role of integrative therapies within Medicaid-supported care
Today, Colorado’s decision to cover integrative therapies serves as a national model for disability healthcare innovation, demonstrating how preventive, whole-person care can improve lives while reducing overall costs to taxpayers.
Our Approach Today
The Chanda Center is committed to disability-competent healthcare that supports people through every phase of their lifelong journey with a disability:
- Whole-person healing
- Movement and pain management
- Preventive and proactive healthcare
- Improving health outcomes and independence
- Reducing healthcare costs by prioritizing a healthy lifestyle
Looking Ahead
The Chanda Center for Health continues to advance evidence-based care models, innovative pilot programs, and advocacy efforts aimed at improving healthcare policy, systems, and services for people with disabilities. We have established and are growing a robust physical therapy practice focused on individuals who will benefit from neurological rehabilitation. Additionally, we are advancing a capital campaign to invest in an adaptive gym that will have state-of-the-art equipment to be used in physical therapy as well as independent exercise. This new workout space will double the size of the current Center and add even more opportunities for participants to move and thrive. By combining direct care with systemic change, we are building a more inclusive healthcare model — one designed to support lifelong health and participation in daily life.
To learn more about the capital campaign, visit our campaign page.
The Chanda Center for Health continues to advance evidence-based care models, innovative pilot programs, and advocacy efforts aimed at improving healthcare policy, systems, and services for people with disabilities.
We have established and are growing a robust physical therapy practice focused on individuals who will benefit from neurological rehabilitation. Additionally, we are advancing a capital campaign to invest in an adaptive gym that will have state-of-the-art equipment to be used in physical therapy as well as independent exercise. This new workout space will double the size of the current Center and add even more opportunities for participants to move and thrive.
By combining direct care with systemic change, we are building a more inclusive healthcare model — one designed to support lifelong health and participation in daily life.
To learn more about the capital campaign, visit our campaign page.
