Two prominent healthcare organizations serving low-income residents in Boulder County are merging, raising questions about potential impacts on critical safety-net programs for those dealing with drug addiction and mental illness.
Mental Health Partners, Boulder’s largest mental health provider, and Clinica Family Health, known for offering affordable medical and dental care, announced their intention to merge last week. The union aims to create an “integrated healthcare model” to better serve “populations who have historically experienced the greatest barriers in access to care,” according to a news release.
Beginning in September, Clinica Family Health & Wellness will offer physical, mental and oral healthcare at locations in Boulder, Broomfield, Gilpin and Adams counties, according to the release.
“More than anything else, this merger is about our patients and clients,” Simon Smith, president and CEO of Clinica, said in a statement.
Smith will assume the role of president and CEO of the new organization. Jen Leosz, one of the two CEOs for Mental Health Partners, will transition to chief integrated health officer. Dixie Casford, the other CEO for Mental Health Partners, will become chief administrative officer.
The merger occurs as Boulder faces a critical demand for mental health and substance use services — the lack of which is contributing to rising overdose deaths and overcrowding in the Boulder County Jail, often referred to as the county’s largest mental health facility, though it’s not equipped to be. Colorado has one of the nation’s highest rates of adult mental illness coupled with the lowest access to care.
Mental Health Partners, serving over 10,000 clients, offers some of the county’s few emergency mental health services outside hospital emergency rooms. It holds a $3.9 million contract with Boulder County to deliver psychiatric care, case management, housing support and crisis stabilization services to low-income residents.
“We don’t foresee any changes to our existing programs,” Casford of Mental Health Partners told Boulder Reporting Lab. “There could be shifts in focus areas. But there is no plan to drastically reduce or eliminate services.”
In 2022, the organization abruptly cut the weekend hours for its walk-in crisis center at 3180 Airport Rd., citing a shortage of clinicians. The hours have since been restored.
Casford said Mental Health Partners is still dealing with workforce challenges. The organizations said the merger will help with recruitment, in part because of the additional professional development and career advancement opportunities.
This merger follows the 2023 “Medicaid unwind,” the ending of a pandemic-era continuous enrollment policy that resulted in thousands of residents in Boulder County losing Medicaid. Both Mental Health Partners and Clinica primarily serve people on Medicaid or people without insurance.
Casford said the Medicaid unwind resulted in less revenue for both organizations, as most people who lost Medicaid were no longer insured but still seeking services. But she said the conversation about merging began before the Medicaid changes took effect.
“I think the unwind and the financial challenges of the unwind really just solidified for us that if we can be a larger organization that has an opportunity to maybe diversify in some different areas of Medicaid, that we could create some sustainability for ourselves,” Casford said.
Separately, lawmakers in 2022 passed legislation aimed at encouraging more competition among mental health care providers. Late last year, two mental health organizations, WellPower and Jefferson Center, merged to create one of the largest mental health care providers in the state. Casford said the merger was not influenced by the legislation. She said one motivation was to improve client outcomes.
Despite the goal of improving health care services, some mental health advocates have questions about the longer-term impacts on services.
“My concern is for the people who are the hardest to treat on the mental health side — the people with the most serious illness,” Rep. Judy Amabile, whose son has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, said of the merger. “I’m not sure they will benefit from being in this combined setting.”
