Community Highlights: Meet Chanda Hinton of The Chanda Center for Health

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chanda Hinton.

Hi Chanda, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
At the age of 9, I experienced a personal injury and subsequent negative health journey that was the catalyst behind my belief that disability and wellness can co-exist, and that opportunity is essential to all everyone, especially those living with long-term disability. Sustaining wellness is vital to an individual, but equally vital to society via cost savings, healthy communities, etc. We can make powerful contributions to the human experience when living it in optimal health.

From my own lived experience, I founded the Chanda Center for Health in 2005 with community in mind. We provide access to acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, physical therapy, behavioral health, care coordination, and primary care through various programs where services are available onsite at its Lakewood facility or remotely, serving people with Spinal Cord Injuries, Cerebral Palsy, Multiple, Sclerosis, Spina Bifida, and Brain Injuries. The goal is to meet individuals where they are at in their wellness journeys, share space for hope, community, and equity.

In addition to directly providing service, the Center and most of my life’s work has been geared towards advocacy. For decades, I’ve championed for systemic change, working with local legislators to create the CIH Waiver, which provides acupuncture, massage, and chiropractic care covered by Medicaid in the state of Colorado, ensuring proactive and preventative healthcare for the community.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My healthcare journey began at the age of 9 after sustaining a spinal cord injury. I experienced firsthand the effects and limitations of traditional medical models of care and treatments. My health challenges, as a result of secondary conditions that come with living with a life-long spinal cord injury, led me to explore wellness options to address those secondary conditions through integrative therapies such as acupuncture, massage, and chiropractic care. This significantly improved my quality of life by addressing those secondary conditions in a preventive and less invasive approach. This was the catalyst for creating the Chanda Center for Health, aiming to provide similar services to others facing the same physical disabilities and health complications.

It is critical that individuals with long-term physical disabilities have access to equitable healthcare for a better quality of life. Individuals with physical disabilities have faced inequitable healthcare for decades, causing increased health issues and even death. This population faces a lack of accessible clinics, not being examined outside of the wheelchair, stigma, and a lack in disability competency. Access to integrative therapies like massage, acupuncture, and chiropractic can provide people with increased mobility, reduced chronic pain, and less anxiety and depression. The Chanda Center for Health is breaking barriers in the community by giving participants a comfortable, safe, and accessible environment for a renewed quality of life.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The Chanda Center for Health is Colorado’s only fully accessible healthcare clinic. The Center strives to improve health outcomes for people living with long-term physical disabilities by delivering comprehensive integrative healthcare, which includes Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Massage, Behavioral Health, Adaptive Yoga, Physical Therapy, Primary Care, and Care Coordination, serving individuals with Spinal Cord Injuries, Spina Bifida, Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis, and Brain Injury.

In 2009, I worked to help pass legislation in the state of Colorado (Spinal Cord Injury Waiver) to provide massage, acupuncture, and chiropractic to individuals with spinal cord injuries through Medicaid. In 2021, the waiver now named the Complementary and Integrative Health Waiver (CIH) was expanded to other diagnoses and state-wide.

This monumental bill has created access to life-changing integrative therapies for the community across Colorado. It allows individuals to be preventative and proactive in their healthcare, have a better quality of life, and to choose their own healthcare path.

2025 is a milestone, as we celebrate 20 years of creating and running a successful non-profit health clinic with a mission to impact the health and lives of those with long term disabilities. With the help of amazing staff, volunteers, and committed donors, we will continue to provide preventative and proactive healthcare to individuals with long-term physical disabilities for many years to come.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Chanda has been featured in The Colorado Sun, on Denver 7 Mile High Living, The Business of Healthcare Podcast, The Better Life with Dr. Pinkston Podcast, and many more. She is the recipient of the Denver Business Journal Partners in Philanthropy, CO Biz Mag Top Women in Business, Denver Business Journal Outstanding Women in Business, and Lakewood Mayor’s Inspiration Award, and more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chandacenter.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chandacenterforhealth/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chandacenterforhealth/#
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chandacenter/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkfFrHS_XY600aMVT6FYGBg