Aurora Mental Health will be opening a Crisis and Acute Care Center on South Potamac Street. The center will be completed in three phases and will include an acute care facility, a health clinic and affordable housing. Pictured is the Stith Center, Elmira Counseling Center and Intensive Services Medical, located at 791 Chambers. Road.
Photo provided by Aurora Mental Health
AURORA | Aurora’s mental healthcare service provider announced Thursday it will lay off more than 100 staff members because of Medicaid funding reductions at the federal and state levels.
Aurora Mental Health and Recovery officials said the program is reducing its staff by 111 employees, mostly administrative and support positions, as of June 30.
Only four roles providing direct client care will be eliminated, officials said. Additionally, the facility plans to reduce some of its services.
CEO Kelly Phillips-Henry said in a statement changes to Medicaid at the state and federal levels represent a $13 million hit to the organization’s budget, which it can’t afford because it operates on a break-even payment model.
Aurora Mental Health and Recovery “is taking this action with a heavy heart,” Phillips-Henry said.
Phillips-Henry said the organization is “committed to ensuring that no client experiences a gap in care as a result of these closures.”
In an effort to reduce the number of layoffs, the organization also instituted other cost saving measures, including mandatory furloughs for leadership, reducing paid holidays and eliminating travel. Aurora Mental Health was able to cut expenses by $1.4 million, which translates to saving 22 positions.
Artist rendering of the Potomac Pavilion, 1290 S. Potomac St.
Phillips-Henry said the organization is performing ahead of budget for the year and has cash available but is limited by its payment model, which is directed by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. The model pays providers at cost with no operating margin.
“Colorado’s safety net behavioral health system rests on a payment model that threatens our ability to serve the people who need us most. That must change,” Phillips-Henry said. “Safety net providers need stability in order to continue serving our communities, especially the most vulnerable among us.”
While state officials were not immediately available for comment, a spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis provided an April 14 letter sent to Aurora Mental Health from the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.
The letter defended the payment model as a way “to preserve the broadest possible array of services for vulnerable Coloradans, provide stable funding that can be tracked month over month, and remain in compliance with federal regulations and approvals.” It said the department doesn’t have the resources to support additional provider payments.
The department also said it is working on creating new ways to support providers and offered to ensure Aurora Mental Health could take advantage of “all of the resources we have set up to support and educate providers, and to understand what additional technical assistance would be helpful beyond what we have available.”
Aurora Mental Health will also close programs that don’t have sustainable funding, including adult education, victim assistance, a youth leadership academy and Aurora Sustains, a mental health screening initiative partnered with the municipal court system.
Behavioral health residential services for Mrachek House and Thomas Houses will end as well, though residents will continue living at Mrachek, which will be managed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Phillips-Henry said the cuts are devastating, adding Aurora Mental Health will continue to look for sustainable funding to bring the services back in the future.
The impacted employees will receive a 60-day notice period, severance and outplacement services. Aurora Mental Health will allow them to apply for remaining vacant positions in the next fiscal year.
The layoffs and cuts come after Aurora Mental Health and Recovery opened a new walk-in access facility, Potomac Pavilion, earlier this year. The clinic offers same-day, non-emergency mental health services during weekday business hours and provides 24-hour crisis services, including a crisis walk-in clinic, a crisis stabilization unit and a detox facility.
The $38 million project is a collaboration among Aurora, Adams and Arapahoe counties, the state and federal funding sources. The building includes an ambulance bay to allow law enforcement and emergency medical personnel to bring people experiencing mental health or substance use crises directly to specialized care.
If you or someone you know is having a mental health crisis or contemplating suicide, call or text 988 for help or go to 988Colorado.com.
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