1,400 patients of a Western Slope clinic still struggle to find care a month after its abrupt closure

Former clients of a Delta-based clinic that shut down early last month are still looking for mental and physical health care on the rural Western Slope.

Sixty people were referred to Axis Health System last month and one former client said she has found better health care options since Integrated Insight Community Care closed last month. 

But some of the 1,400 other clients said they fear they’re facing a crisis, because there are too few mental and physical health care providers available in their area who take Medicaid, and can care for people with complex and specialized needs.

“It is unfortunate that the actions of Integrated Insight Community Care leadership led to the suMMAry suspension of their license and contracts being terminated,” Stefany Busch, media manager for the state Behavioral Health Administration, wrote in a statement to the Colorado Sun.

While people search for new providers, lawmakers are working with an advocacy organization and other state health leaders to clarify a law around licensure of facilities similar to the ones operated by Integrated.

Integrated Insight Community Care closed after Rocky Mountain Health Plans pulled its contract with the clinic Jan. 18, citing concerns about patient safety and ongoing financial instability. 

Rocky Mountain Health Plans is a UnitedHealthcare company and Medicaid insurance provider to many Coloradans with low incomes and disabilities.

The state Behavioral Health Administration also investigated allegations against the clinic that led to its closure, including claims it falsified treatment records and that its founder, Joel Watts, had an inappropriate romantic relationship with a client and gave center staff drugs and alcohol on the job. 

The Delta Police Department also launched an investigation into the clinic, said Becki Stevens, victim services coordinator for the Delta Police Department. “Because it is an active investigation it is not releasable,” she wrote in an email to the Colorado Sun on Monday afternoon.

Watts has denied any wrongdoing and said if he had a chance to work with the state and prove the allegations false, the clinic would still be operating.

Mental health experts said they understand state leaders needed to shut down the clinic to ensure patient safety. But the national behavioral health crisis is making it difficult for some former Integrated clients to find competent care, especially in rural areas, where mental health care options are scarce and the distance between medical offices is vast. 

But when a clinic shutters in a small, rural community, that’s an emergency too, said Vincent Atchity, president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado.

Patients can lose access to their medications, they can face long wait times while trying to access new care and the closure can create distrust in the mental health care system and discourage patients from finding new doctors, he said. 

A psychiatric emergency on the Western Slope

Notification letters were sent to Medicaid-covered patients of Integrated, prioritizing people with the highest care needs, a state Medicaid department spokesperson wrote in an email to The Colorado Sun.

Rocky Mountain Health Plans reached more than half of those former clients by phone to offer support, the spokesperson said.

Several community providers and organizations are helping support former Integrated clients during their transition to new care, said Haley Leonard-Saunders, director of communications at Axis Health System.

“If one organization doesn’t have the capacity to accept new clients, they could refer them to another partner stepping up to fill the gap,” she said.

Leaders at Axis Health System, a health care provider serving 11 counties in southwestern Colorado, have added more hours of group therapy throughout the month to support new patients and others transferring there, Leonard-Saunders said.

Sixty new clients were referred to Axis Health System’s Montrose and Delta offices in February for mental Health and substance use disorder treatment, she said.