(PUEBLO, Colo.) — The Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo (CMHHIP) had to close down mental health beds during the pandemic, and it is now re-opening 39 beds to bring more care into Southern Colorado.
“Well, it’s super exciting because on average, to restore someone to competency, it’s a little over 100 days,” said CMHHIP Chief Executive Officer, Jill Marshall. “So by opening 39 beds, we can serve approximately 117 people or more in a year. So the more beds we have open, the more people that we can serve.”
Currently, the psychiatric hospital has 516 beds, but coming out of the pandemic, Marshall said there is an even greater demand to provide service.
“Our waiting list was in the forties and now post-pandemic because of some of the changes that we’ve had to make and some of our units are having to close or converting those to medical units,” Marshall said. “There are now over 400 people on the waitlist to receive services for restoration treatment in Colorado.”
FOX21 was shown by security around the grounds including this building which will have the new beds inside of it.
The additional beds will be opened as one co-ed unit and help provide the necessary care for those who are in the greatest need of it. Each patient is assessed to ensure they receive a specialized form of treatment.
“What happens is that every patient that comes into the hospital goes through a battery of assessments from a psychiatric provider or a psychiatrist, nursing staff, social work, the various different disciplines, psychology, the different services that we provide,” Marshall said. “Then after the assessment, they formulate what they call a plan of care.”
In opening up the new beds, CMHHIP is looking to bring in more staff to help provide care for their patients. Hiring information can be found online.
“What we really focus on is recruitment and retention,” Marshall said. “We are offering a hiring bonus, where we’ve increased our salaries. We are really working on being marketable in the workforce and bringing in new staff.”
CMHHIP provides individualized treatment to each of its patients.
While patients range in age from adolescents to those in their aging years, they are served by staff who understand how to best support them.
“So for adolescents, we have a specific team that is really trained in working in adolescent services,” Marshall said. “For our older adults, we have a specific team that is really trained in working with older adults and working on all of the different mental health needs that would come with that.”
Marshall has been leading CMHHIP both pre and post-pandemic and sees the need for individualized services to be offered to improve one’s mental health.
“Everybody really deserves individualized treatment… not everybody is the same,” Marshall said. “It’s all about equity, right, and so when we are looking at the person, we’re looking at what has happened to that person in their life, what support do they need.”
