Carol Plock has announced that she will step down in early 2022 as executive director of the Health District of Northern Larimer County, a position she has held for nearly 27 years.

Plock, 65, was hired by the Health District’s board of directors in 1994, becoming the special district’s first executive director after it ended its management of Poudre Valley Hospital and embarked on a new mission to improve community health in northern Larimer County.

Since then, the Health District has grown from a staff of two to an organization employing more than 100 people that provides dental, mental health, and preventive health-care services, in addition to leading collaborative community health planning activities and helping local residents access affordable health insurance.

During Plock’s tenure, the Health District has won awards and served as a model for other communities seeking to fill critical unmet health-care needs based on assessment of local service gaps. Plock oversaw development of programs providing critical services, including Larimer Health Connect and Mental Health and Substance Use Connections. She also guided the Health District’s response to local public health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the agency worked with community partners to provide isolation, recovery, and quarantine services to the area’s unhoused population.

The Health District, a special district funded by tax revenue, grants, and client fees, is headquartered in twin north Fort Collins facilities that include a 12-chair dental clinic. Additional services are provided at satellite facilities.

Prior to her arrival at the Health District, Plock, a Fort Collins resident, was executive director of the Women’s Center of Larimer County. Boards and committees she has served on include the Caring for Colorado Foundation, Colorado Health Institute, Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved, United Way of Larimer County, Committee for Colorado Health Care Solutions, Mental Health and Substance Use Alliance of Larimer County, Larimer County Pandemic Influenza Planning Steering Committee, Colorado Diversified Trust, and the Program Improvement Advisory Committee for the state Medicaid program. In 2012, Plock received a Health Care Champion Award from the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved, and she and the Health District were named the 2010 recipient of the Joseph Jabaily Public Health Hero Award by the Larimer County Board of Health.             

“Back in 1994, I could never have imagined that I would have the exceptional life opportunity to work with such amazing individuals, to make such a tremendous difference together in the lives of so many real people with very real needs,” Plock said in a message to Health District staff. “My heartfelt thanks to you for your role in serving our community, and may the next era of the Health District be just as impactful – or more!” 

The Health District is governed by a publicly elected, five-person board of directors. The board will begin a search for Plock’s replacement in the fall.