Kara L. Johnson-Hufford, MPA is the Chief Executive Officer of CBHC. She brings with her 20+ years successful experience providing management and leadership in the administration of health and human services programs. Before joining the organization in the spring of 2023, she served as the Deputy Executive Director of the Health Facilities and Emergency Medical Services Division at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). In that capacity, she directly oversaw and led several branches that were responsible for the regulatory oversight and support of Colorado's expansive healthcare system.
Kara worked with the State of Colorado for nearly 13 years, the last 9 being with CDPHE, serving within a variety of roles across the behavioral health, intellectual and developmental disabilities and overall healthcare industries. Additional experiences include serving as an ex-officio member of the Behavioral Health Entity Implementation and Advisory Committee (BHE-IAC) and the CDPHE representative on the Governor-appointed Mental Health Advisory Board within the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Kara is deeply invested in people, productive working relationships and processes that positively impact Colorado's behavioral healthcare system. She has had an opportunity to influence and inform those processes from a state level these last number of years and she is eager to do so now by returning to her roots on the provider, person-centered care side.
Kara obtained her Master in Public Administration from the University of Colorado Denver in 2015, specializing in health systems, management, policy and law. She brings numerous years of successful experience within the health and human services field, ranging from direct service provision, mental health/psychiatric supports, quality and case management to regulatory oversight and survey processes and procedures. Outside of work, Kara can be found with her spouse and their cattle dog out hiking Colorado's trails or gallivanting the globe.
