Solvista Health broke ground on Thursday, May 6, for Solvista’s new Regional Assessment Center on the campus of the Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center (HRRMC). The center, which is expected to be completed in March of 2022, will be focused on supporting adults struggling with substance abuse, addiction, and other mental health needs.
Brian Turner, CEO of Solvista, says his past work in mental health advocacy and funding in Denver drives his present experience in the valley.
“Every single time a new bill was introduced or a policy or rule or regulation was debated, every time funding or a new methodology was vetted, ‘rural’ was always mentioned,” said Turner. “And every time a policy was actually implemented, every time a decision was made, all the deciders and the policymakers were really good about patting themselves on the back for having considered the needs of rural equally to the needs of urban communities in Colorado.… [However,] There is not the same attention given to our rural and frontier communities on a whole lot of levels, but especially mental health and substance abuse, as there is in our metropolitan areas.”
That the new assessment center is needed in rural, Central Colorado has been known for years. This region ranks second highest in the state for opioid deaths. One in five adults in Colorado drinks excessively. Chaffee County has one of the highest incidences of risky behaviors by its youth in the state of Colorado, including the early use of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco.
With growing behavioral health challenges in rural Colorado and the central mountain region, those with mental health or substance abuse issues have had to be transported in hours-long commutes down-canyon or to the Front Range for assessment and stabilization services. Dealing even with a crisis situation, has required waiting for a bed to open up.
This new center will offer the community:
- 24/7 crisis services, including withdrawal management
- Respite care
- Acute treatment for intensive short-term treatment options and for severe mental health issues
- Individual and group counseling, psychiatry and peer support services.
“This represents a serious change and an opportunity for us to really invest in the health and wellbeing of rural and frontier Colorado,” said Turner, pointing to the widespread support and involvement from local businesses and public offices for the treatment center. “Thank you to everybody for coming together and making this process possible.”
Chaffee County Public Health Director Andrea Carlstrom, also a board member with Solvista Health, introduced the project, thanking those in attendance and praising Solvista Health’s work in the valley over the years.
“Solvista Health’s unwavering leadership, partnership, innovation, and most of all perseverance over the years, have paved the way for the regional assessment center to become a reality,” she says. “We can now offer our community a continuum of care for those living with substance abuse and addiction. No longer will they or their loved ones have to travel to faraway places like the Front Range to receive the services and support vital to thrive, vital to find a path to recovery. The regional assessment center is a shining example of our investment in our community, our beloved valley where we love to live, work, serve, and give.”
Carlstrom and Turner, along with the rest of the Solvista Health Board of Directors and Peter Edis of HRRMC broke ground with hard hats and shovels, thanking their contractors G.H. Phipps, the HRRMC Board of Directors, and H.G.F., their architects, for their support on the project.
The center will be located on the west side of the HRRMC campus, near the Rocky Mountain Eye Center. Turner estimates the center will be ready for patients in March of 2022.
Featured image: The board of Solvista Health donned hardhats, picked up shovels, and tossed the first dirt at the groundbreaking for the new Solvista Regional Assessment Center to be located on the grounds of the Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center. Photo by Hannah Harn.
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