Jefferson County Business and Workforce Center along with Workforce Boulder County co-convened the launch of Colorado’s first Behavioral Health Sector Partnership on July 10 at the Adams County Regional Economic Partnership and Community Reach Center located in Westminster, Colo.
The event brought together 70 public partners—including 29 industry employers and 41 community partners—to tackle the national and state crisis impacting equitable access to behavioral health services, and discuss solutions to allow new levels of service delivery through new behavioral health careers that can be reimbursable by medicaid and other insurance providers.
During the launch Industry chairs Doug Muir from Common Spirit Health and Christine Lanham with Alis Behavioral Health, revealed shared pain points in the industry, and led discussions to help the newly-formed partnership identify four priority initiatives to resolve with further collaboration. These included workforce development, compassion fatigue, reimbursement improvements, and ecosystem developments.
Employers in attendance expressed their gratitude for the creation of this shared table. Many have felt siloed and disconnected from their industry counterparts and are excited to make connections with other Behavioral Health professionals.
The partnership will support industry leaders, increase their understanding of best practices, resources in the community, and services offered by other providers which will allow them to better serve this community.
This sector partnership was created and supported by industry leaders following the Behavioral Health Talent Nexus event hosted on March 13, 2024, to share the work happening in the field from Colorado Department of Higher Education, Colorado Community College System, Behavioral Health Administration and Colorado Workforce Development Council.
If you or someone you know is Interested in hearing insights from healthcare industry leaders across the state, please join the next Healthcare Community of Practice on September 11, 2024 from 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. For more information, please contact co-conveners Brea Granlund or Samara Portis.