By:ICOSA Issue: Collaborative Leadership Section: Collaboration Close Up
Pavilion Project for Mental Health
Denver Health is home to the Rocky Mountain Regions Level 1 trauma center and treats approximately 150,000 Denver residents who seek inpatient care. With slow, but steady population growth in Denver, the hospital continues to expand and accommodate the diverse nature of its unique patient base. In addition to serving hospital visitors, Denver Health is also comprised of over 20 community health service centers that treat one third of Denver’s population annually. In spite of its numerous facilities, the hospital, as well as the state, lacks the proper space to treat children and adolescents with mental health problems. Mental health issues affect 1 in every 5 young people at any given time and according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it is estimated that two-thirds of all young people with mental health problems are not getting the help they need.
Considering these alarming statistics, Denver Health, as a state leader in public health services and a model for national public healthcare, will construct the Pavilion Project, a new 78,000-square foot pavilion funded primarily through the federal government, to create a welcoming and safe environment for youth to receive treatment and begin the healing process for their mental health issues.
To attain additional funding, the Denver Health Foundation, along with its Level One Board, have engaged the community to raise funds for the Pavilion Project—the goal being $350,000 by January 2011. The group is well on its way to achieving this monetary goal with a final APPLAUSE event—the Broadway production of “Next to Normal,” with the show’s original cast. If the group can achieve its goal, the new Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit at Denver Health will open its doors to a region that has been deprived of options for children suffering with mental health issues