Creating a behavioral health home in Boulder County

Since 2019, behavioral health services have been housed in the Della Cava Family Medical Pavilion on Boulder Community Health’s Foothills Campus. BCH is a “behavioral health home” where members of our community—with mental health diagnoses ranging from simple to complex to chronic—can find appropriate and meaningful care.

Q&A with Sarah Wise, Director of Nursing for Behavioral Health, BCH

How has having the Della Cava Family Medical Pavilion impacted behavioral health in the community?

The Della Cava Family Medical Pavilion has greatly impacted our community’s access to behavioral health services. It is a beautiful and well-designed building that offers a comforting environment to provide care to our patients. In addition, it allows us to centralize our services all under one roof. The centralization of services ensures a continuum of care, allowing patients to see the same providers throughout their treatment journey, making the process less intimidating for individuals seeking behavioral health care in our community.

How have you worked with community partners to enhance behavioral health services at BCH?

Our partnerships have allowed us to expand our services and better meet the community’s diverse needs and offer our patients a unique level of continuity in their care. We collaborate with several other organizations in Boulder including:

• RISE Against Suicide: Offers rapid psychotherapy for adolescents in crisis post-discharge ensuring continuum of care.
• Boulder County Jail: This collaboration provides co-case management, direct admission, and behavioral health and medical services to inmates brought to BCH suffering from severe mental health and substance use-related issues.
• Boulder County Behavioral Health Roadmap: BCH participates in this initiative, which allows us to help identify and solve for behavioral health needs in the community.
• Boulder County Open Space and Mountain Parks: Partners with our Pathways Program, which provides individuals the therapeutic benefits of hiking and nature as part of their behavioral health treatment plan.

What are the largest needs for the future of behavioral health at BCH?

Our future needs include fostering partnerships with local organizations that provide more comprehensive services, expanding substance use disorder care, enhancing our outpatient program and eventually supporting some sustainable housing for the chronically mentally ill. We are also focused on expanding the treatment-resistant specific services we offer patients who have difficult-to-treat or chronic behavioral health issues.

Recent expansions to these services include:

• Increasing inpatient beds for withdrawal management
• Implementing pre-operative mindfulness to reduce opioid use
• Exploring innovative treatments like Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and guided Ketamine treatments for treatment-resistant mood disorders.

BCH is committed to addressing complex Behavioral Health needs in patient-centered ways, despite challenges faced by many healthcare systems. We are also so thankful to the donor community for continuing to believe in us and supporting our growth. None of this incredible work would be possible without the generous support of our community.