West Springs Hospital Admissions Coordinator Evan Oeinck monitors the patient intake entrance at the hospital located in Grand Junction Friday October 14, 2022. The only Colorado psychiatric hospital west of the Front Range will stay open for the foreseeable future after the community mental health center that owns the facility reached a deal with its main insurance payer.
“This new agreement with RMHP removes the immediacy of West Springs Hospital possibly closing,” Mind Springs said in a statement, which didn’t provide any financial details about the agreements.Rocky Mountain Health Plans, which administers Medicaid on the Western Slope, didn’t answer questions about the agreements, but released a statement saying it was “pleased” with the outcome.
Mind Springs had asked the state for $6.6 million, saying it had burned through its cash reserves while fixing problems agencies had identified in recent years. The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, the Behavioral Health Administration and the Department of Public Health and EnvironmentMind Springs CEO John Sheehan also blamed Rocky Mountain Health Plans, saying it tried to steer patients away from West Springs to save money and refused to pay for medically necessary care.
in late 2022, following allegations by two former employees. West Springs regained the ability to bill Medicaid in May 2023 after agreeing to hire a management company to help it improve.