As Heidi Baskfield, Vice President of Population Health and Advocacy, described during public testimony:
“If my son experiences a mental health crisis in the middle of the night, there is no one to call. I will drive to the emergency department and wait for him to be assessed. Sometimes, as many as 15 to 40 other families facing similar crises will also be waiting. If my son requires more intensive care than can be delivered at home, we will wait in the emergency department for an inpatient bed to open…anywhere in Colorado. This could take days. When a bed becomes available, my son will receive treatment. If he needs additional resources—step-down care at a residential facility, for example—he might need to travel to another state just to get into a program.”