The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) announced the 5 Star Certification Program, which will give the City and County of Broomfield an expedited path to lifting restrictions on businesses in our community through each level of the dial if operators can show enhanced public health protections are in place.
Eligibility for the program is based on metrics CDPHE established to gauge the level of COVID transmission and hospital capacity. Once eligible, local counties can submit an application to CDPHE to seek approval to establish the program locally. While Broomfield’s numbers are trending in the right direction and didn’t show the post-Thanksgiving spike public health officials feared, CDPHE did report that Broomfield is NOT eligible to apply to the 5 Star Program at this time based on the scorecard data linked here.
Proactively, a cross-departmental team is already developing the initial 5 Star Certification Program for Broomfield and has initiated several of the steps necessary to apply once eligible. While the focus remains on ensuring public health, Broomfield is committed to implementing an effective program in a timely manner to support eligible Broomfield businesses.
Please note, Public Health staff will serve in a limited advisory role to get this program off the ground to ensure they remain laser-focused on the pandemic response including contact tracing, vaccine distribution, testing, and proactive messaging and outreach. Additionally, Public Health staff continue their investigation and execution of further mitigation strategies with a renewed urgency as schools look to re-open, holiday gatherings remain a concern, and now with the added risk that comes with lifting restrictions at local businesses.
The next step in developing the program in Broomfield is to solidify an administrative committee; compliance, enforcement, and complaint program, an application form, and an acceptance process in collaboration with community partners.
Local businesses interested in the certification program and other support opportunities should watch for new and updated information to be provided as it becomes available by signing up to receive program updates through the Economic Vitality newsletter at Broomfield.org/BintheLoop or visiting Broomfield.org/EconomicVitality.
Please see the following links for more information about the State program: 5-Star Certification Briefing Video, 5-Star State Certification Program Checklist, Broomfield Eligibility.