Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  Dr. Michael Camarata of Columbine Family Health has been reinstated to take Medicaid patients which will bring relief to many Nederland residents who have had to seek care elsewhere.

Camarata says this good news is due to the work of attorney Mark Cohen who told the Department of Health that he was going to depose them. They agreed to allow him to accept Medicaid patients as of July 24, 2017.

The state has requested that his license be unrestricted and the Colorado State Medical Board lifted the restriction, therefore Camarata can now treat Medicaid patients.

“This is a big load off my mind,” says Camarata, “and good news for local patients. I know we’ll be inundated at first and we will do the best we can. Everybody is ecstatic. No more turning people away.”

His employees are particularly happy to get the news; they have been the ones to deal with the paperwork and the patients. Peggy Cole has been handling the communications and Janet Patterson has had the interaction with the patients, keeping everyone apprised of what was happening.

Dr. Camarata says, “They are are a hell of a team, the best I’ve ever had.”

He also extended thanks to Jonathan Garrison who obtained 900 signatures in support of his reinstatement. Camarata says he is still soliciting help with legal fees, but at least he can get his patients cared for.

During the loss of his Medicaid license, he had one man show up with a gangrenous toe needing pre-operative clearance for amputation. He was told that a doctor could see him in three months. Camarata treated the man for free.

Another woman came in after a pedicure which had cut her foot and she was told she had to wait three months for an appointment. She ended up having to go to an emergency room, one of many who have traveled to Boulder and waited in line for five hours.

"I am just really happy,” says Camarata. “I plan to just keep on keeping on. It has been cloudy for a while but the sun came out.”

(Originally published in the July 20, 2017 print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)