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Western Colorado psychiatric hospital has “less than 30 days of cash on hand” before closing, leaders say

Boby

April 19, 2024

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**West Springs Hospital in Grand Junction, as of March 11, 2024, has 48 beds with an average length of stay of about 6 and a half days, slightly below the national average.**
*Hugh Carey/The Colorado Sun*

A psychiatric hospital that provides mental health and addiction services to people across 23,000 square miles in western Colorado could close within weeks if it can’t find the funding it needs to stay open.

Persistent financial challenges, problems hiring staff, intense scrutiny from regulatory agencies and problems receiving payments from insurers could lead to the closure of West Springs Hospital in Grand Junction, facility leaders announced earlier this week ..

Closing the hospital would mean the loss of its emergency psychiatric department, a vital resource for law enforcement officers who bring people in crisis there to help keep them out of jails and prisons, the hospital’s online announcement says.

“We have less than 30 days of cash on hand,” said John M. Sheehan, president and CEO of Mind Springs Health, owner of West Springs Hospital. “This is the only psychiatric center between Denver and Salt Lake City. “It is literally providing care in a desert, and if it goes away, patients will die.”