Bringing improvements to the upper valley

The town of Mt. Crested Butte has accepted a funding request for $5,000 to help bring mental health services to Crested Butte through the Gunnison Valley Health Foundation (GVH) and The Center for Mental Health. The center is planning renovations to a unit in the Ore Bucket Building at Sixth Street and Maroon Avenue that will allow it to establish a full-service mental health clinic there, and Mt. Crested Butte’s contribution was the final addition needed to reach its funding goal.

Dr. John Tarr, chairman of the board for GVH, addressed the council at the meeting alongside Kimberly Behounek, regional director of The Center for Mental Health.

“This remodel will enable the presence of a full-time mental health clinic in the upper valley, which in my opinion will be a very important service to people suffering from mental health conditions, who will then be able to access services from the mental health center without the overhead of an hour and a half commute down valley and back,” said Tarr.

This latest contribution completes the capital campaign goal of raising $50,000, as part of the total estimated need of $262,420 to be raised for the renovation by January. GVH owns the Ore Bucket space and has entered into an agreement with the mental health center to provide the space for a clinic. GVH also contributed $30,000; the center itself has contributed $30,000; Vail Resorts also agreed to contribute $30,000; the Town of Crested Butte has made a $5,000 contribution; and another $100,000 is expected from a grant through El Pomar Foundation, $52,420 from Caring for Colorado for programming. The renovation includes structural changes and the addition of a bathroom.

The clinic expects to benefit the community by providing a full complement of mental health and substance abuse treatment services more locally.

“I don’t think I need to tell anybody about the number of tragedies that have occurred with individuals taking their own lives in the upper valley this year, of which I believe there have been five. Whether or not these would have been preventable by a more easy access to mental health services is obviously speculative, but it could have done no harm,” said Tarr.

The mental health center has also received a grant to provide funding for the services it will offer at the clinic.

Behounek discussed the plans for service at the clinic. She said the 700-square-foot space would allow for a reception area, a bathroom, and three counseling spaces. There will be three professionals in the clinic, and it will be open Monday through Saturday. Practitioners will include a nurse practitioner, a psychiatrist, and a licensed addiction counselor, as well as a primary care physician co-locating in the same building to facilitate a “warm hand-off” for referrals.

There will also be a peer specialist, which Behounek described as “a person with lived experience in mental health and substance use,” who will be circulating throughout the community, introducing the service and hosting sober living events on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for those who need or want to live a sober lifestyle.

“This grant will support their income, and then long-term it’s my obligation and role to figure out how I can roll that into the fiscal year budget,” said Behounek.

The center already has 314 active cases in the 81224 and 81225 zip codes, and Behounek said she is confident that even a 20 percent in service capacity increase, “just by being present,” will give the center the ability to continue staffing the clinic full-time.

The center also plans to make the clinic available to law enforcement officials at all hours in order to activate a mobile crisis management team when necessary to allow for telephone and video platforms and receive support without leaving the community, unless it is determined someone needs a higher level of care. Law enforcement gets multiple mental health calls per month, said Behounek, and currently, emergency medical services have to drive people in crisis to Gunnison Valley Hospital, which necessitates both an ambulance fee and hospital admission fees, even if they are just in need of connecting to telehealth services.

Mt. Crested Butte Town Council member Nicholas Kempin, who works for the local EMS, said he has seen the problem first-hand. “There are so many costs. . . . It just compounds their problems,” he said.

The center also hopes to begin hosting sober living events as part of the upper valley presence.

Both Behounek and Tarr addressed the council’s questions regarding anonymity, given the somewhat prominent public location of the Ore Building, and about the nature of the walk-in experiences.

“It’s a very visible corner,” said Mayor Todd Barnes.

Kempin agreed that a lack of anonymity is a problem in the valley.

Behounek said that has been considered, as has rebranding the center altogether, or making the space more of a community gathering place.

“All of those things can be on the table, but at the same time . . . our preference as an agency would be that we continue to reduce stigma,” said Behounek, noting that there are already other medical practitioners in the building, and mental health is an aspect of healthcare that deserves the same kind of attention and care as any other.

“What you describe in your question gets to the heart of national issues,” said Tarr. “There are national deficits … This is not just a local problem. This is a national problem.”

Tarr said it is important not to let perfectionism get in the way of making improvements.

Behounek also described the walk-in experience as welcoming, with plans for the atmosphere to be warm and inviting. She said decor will use warm color palettes with local artists and possibly artist co-ops, but there will not be front desk receptionist initially.

The council was very supportive of the project, and Kempin said, ”I am thrilled about the prospect of having this in the valley.”

Barnes asked if anyone on the council wanted to offer additional funding as well, and other members of the council agreed. Council member Janet Farmer encouraged the foundation to return to the council to request additional funding if construction costs exceed expectations.