Did You Know – West Springs Hospital

West Springs Hospital plays a crucial role in safeguarding access to behavioral health and mental wellness in western Colorado. Built in 2019, it is a world-class facility.

 

DID YOU KNOW? West Springs is the only psychiatric hospital with a 24/7 psychiatric emergency department between Denver and Salt Lake City, a 4-hour plus drive in either direction.

 

Located in Grand Junction, Mesa County, on Mind Springs’ main campus, West Springs provides an opportunity for local residents to get early intervention care as residents of rural areas often grapple with limited access to emergent healthcare services.

 

DID YOU KNOW? Psychiatric facilities like West Springs Hospital, bridge this gap and act as anchors of support providing assessment, treatment, and stabilization for individuals facing mental health crises. In 2023, 26 percent of Coloradans reported eight or more days of poor mental health, according to the Colorado Health Access Survey by the Colorado Health Institute.

DID YOU KNOW?

Without hospitals like West Springs, individuals on the Western Slope would be left without access to essential mental health care.  From July 1, 2022–December 31, 2023, West Springs Hospital admitted 1,930 individuals including 1,430 adults and 500 pediatric patients in a dedicated adolescent wing. A 9 percent increase in hospital admissions is shown from July–December 2023, over the same six-month period from the previous year. Access to emergent mental health care is needed more now than ever.

 

DID YOU KNOW? From July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, there were 352 pediatric and adolescent admissions to West Springs with an average stay of 7.7 days. West Springs had a total of 1,243 admissions during this time.

 

PSYCHIATRIC EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

In the Fall of 2022, Mind Springs opened the regions first Psychiatric Emergency Department at West Springs Hospital—the only facility of its kind on the Western Slope. The Psychiatric Emergency Department has become an integral part of the community care continuum in Mesa County. Local law enforcement use the Psychiatric E.D. as a key care connection point to ensure individuals are getting timely emergent behavioral health care they need.

 

DID YOU KNOW? The Psych E.D. also relieves stress on the local jails by reducing inappropriate incarceration and aiming to prevent repeat encounters with law enforcement. It also reduces stress on local, medical emergency departments.

 

DID YOU KNOW? Mental Health Crises account for 12.3% of all adult ER visits, nationwide. Since its opening in November 2022, over 2,500 adults and teens have been admitted to West Springs Psychiatric E.D.