Patient-Centered Care for Children and Youth
Kids First takes an evidence-based, patient-centered approach to health care, focusing on integrated services that support the health of the whole child. Kids First’s model promotes inclusiveness by increasing equitable access to high-quality health care services across Adams County. We strive to be culturally and linguistically responsive: Most of our providers are bilingual, and many of our staff members come from the communities we serve, making them specially attuned to the distinct needs and preferences of the patients we work with. While our clinical services rival those of any private pediatrician’s office, no child is ever turned away due to the family’s lack of insurance or inability to pay.
Please call 303-289-1086 for an appointment or more information.
Primary and Preventive Medical Care
Serving children and teens up to age 21, Kids First provides:
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- Comprehensive well-child and well-adolescent exams
- Immunizations
- Acute care for the diagnosis and treatment of minor illnesses, infection, and injuries
- Management of chronic conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, or asthma
- Sports physicals
- Reproductive health services
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At Kids First, we work with every family to make sure their unique needs are being addressed. Our providers take extra time to get to know each patient and help them become more comfortable with any tools and resources they’ve been provided. Programs are designed to promote healthy choices, prevent disease, intervene early when problems arise, and provide integrated services and continuity of care.
Behavioral Health Services
Kids First provides wraparound physical health care and behavioral health care treatment in one location, which is easily accessible to patients, increases communication between physical and behavioral health providers, and results in better outcomes for our patients.
At Thornton High School and Brighton High School, Kids First works with Community Reach Center to provide behavioral health services, which facilitate early identification and treatment of behavioral health issues within a primary pediatric care setting.
Through these services, Kids First is able to offer counseling around common issues that children and adolescents face, including:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Thoughts of suicide
- Substance use and abuse
- Relationship problems
Preventive Dental Care
Dental health services became available at our Adams City High School clinic in February 2017 and at our Brighton High School clinic in January 2019. Kids First contracts with Salud Family Health Centers to provide one day per week of preventive dental health services at each location. In fall 2019, Kids First began offering dental services at our Thornton High School clinic in partnership with Clinica Family Health.
Dental health services include:
- Screenings
- Cleanings
- Fluoride varnish
- Sealants
These preventive measures help facilitate early identification and treatment of more serious dental health issues for our patients. For more information on dental services, please contact Anaiz Sotelo, Clinic Manager.
Health Education Services
Our health educators work collaboratively with our medical care team to address patient health concerns around a variety of topic areas, including healthy eating and lifestyle, weight management, reproductive health, dental care, tobacco and marijuana, and asthma. The focus of this programming is to help prevent and manage health-related issues, such as obesity and asthma, and to promote children and youth’s ability to manage their own health by empowering them to make healthy choices throughout their lifetime.
Through the support of a health educator, our patients learn how to manage chronic illnesses and create daily behavior changes that contribute to a lifetime of health and wellness. These services complement and reinforce the direct health care services provided at the clinic and have been shown to increase patients’ knowledge, skills, and positive attitudes towards health.
Examples of how our health educators can help support you or your child are:
- Work with the medical provider during patient visits to identify and address chronic health issues, such as asthma, diabetes, and obesity
- Work with patients and parents to help them prevent and manage their chronic conditions, from managing their medication to making positive behavior changes around nutrition, exercise, asthma management
- Work with patients to set personal health goals and monitor and follow up with patients to keep them on track towards their health goals
- Connect patients to outside resources to help them begin making healthy lifestyle changes
- Provide referrals to community partners for patients who need specialty care to address comorbidities, such as asthma or hypertension.
For more information about health education services, please contact Emily Human, Health Education Manager.