On Thursday, September 19th, the Glenwood City Council was presented with an update on the new Withdrawal Management Program at Mind Springs Health. Presenting were the program coordinator Andre Gossweiler and Executive VP of Operations Amy Cooper. Cooper and Gossweiler opened the presentation with some anecdotes of the program's success.
"We have really seen this be a transformative program for the patients who have come through. Over 76 percent of our clients who have been through the program have engaged in some form of aftercare, which is actually a really high transition rate as compared to most withdrawal management or detox programs. So we're really, really proud of that. We are fully staffed on our medical team now, which is always a challenge in the community, but we are fully up and running.
We've got our case management team up and going, including, uh, running relapse prevention groups, other coping mechanisms to help people just, you know, what are you going to do? How are you going to tackle this going forward? And we also launched our secure transportation program this month. So what that does is really coordinates between our hospitals and EMS systems to make sure that we are able to pick up patients when they're ready, uh, wherever they're at in the community, or pick them up from the emergency department if they're not voluntarily willing to come with us, and then bring them to our facility. So lots of early wins here in the first couple months."
Since the withdrawal wing soft opened in June, the number of patients has tripled. Staff are expecting that number to grow as awareness grows. At the time of the presentation to the City Council, they have treated 34 unique patients as well as a few repeat clients.
"A few folks we haven't been able to track their residence, but for the most part these are Barfield County residents with Glenwood Springs being a significant referral source as well as Carbondale. It's been being the top three."
The Withdrawal Management Program in Glenwood Springs provides a medically managed level of care. This means that they provide medication and management from medical professionals to their patients as they go through withdrawal. This approach eases the physical strain of withdrawal and experts say allows the patient to progress to the next level of care. It also lessens the strain on local law enforcement and emergency services. Some of MindSpring's patients have been accepted into sober living, furthering their progress toward long term sustained sobriety.
The progress that withdrawal management is making is not without hurdles. MindSpring's data shows that some patients don't have insurance and have to self fund their own treatment. Additionally, the projected 2025 budget shows a gap in expected revenue and cost. Cooper says that they have created a strategic plan to address these issues. Securing funding for the program will involve a comprehensive outreach program to community partners to make sure they are aware of withdrawal management and how they can refer clients, contacting counties and other entities to inquire about partnering for funding, and developing contracts with private insurance payers.
Here is Councilor Shelley Kaup on Mind Springs other facilities and sources of funding.
Kaup: "I did have a question on the Grand Junction facility. Will that be staying in operation then? Yes, we will continue to operate that facility. And then, do you have a listing in the budget of who the other contributors are to the Glenwood Springs facility?Like, who is, who is contributing to the revenue to keep that running?"
"Yeah, so that is a combination of 7 municipalities and 2. 2 hospitals. Okay, thank you. The municipalities are all within Garfield County and the 2 hospitals are also within Garfield County being Valley View and Grand River.
Kaup: "Okay, and is there still a facility open in Pitkin County?"
"There is, and it has always been specifically. really dedicated to Pitkin county residents only."
Although most patients come from Garfield County, a concern brought up by the city council was making sure that patients return to their community of origin. Andre Gossweiler addressed this question."
"Obviously five patients out of 34 were here. They were in Glenwood and could return to wherever they identify as home here. What about the other 29? Were there any challenges? How did that look? Because that was one of the big concerns we had is like making sure they return to their community of origin."
Gossweiler: "Absolutely. And our case management works really hard to connect them into the best resource available to them. But we've had individuals. As far as you know, Alamosa, I believe we had one from, from, uh, an, an outside state. And so those lead to some challenges with us being able to provide some levels of transport, but we do our best to work with that. By and large, we have had, uh, success in getting everyone to where they need to. No one has had to essentially be turned to the street after, after going through our services."
Mind Springs staff said they will be sending an invoice to the city for next year's funding request. More information about the Withdrawal Management Program is available at MindSpringsHealth.org
