Less than 20 years ago, there were three inpatient psychiatric units on the western slope where people could receive life-saving treatment when they needed it. Then, quickly, all three closed, leaving an unacceptable gap that led to West Springs Hospital opening in 2005. Today, West Springs Hospital remains the sole inpatient psychiatric hospital in western Colorado, the only one between Denver and Salt Lake City.
Good-intentioned as it was, the urgently-built original hospital very quickly outgrew growing community need, and it operated at full capacity on a nearly daily basis, forcing many people to wait for a discharge before they could be admitted. This kind of wait can literally mean life or death and is unacceptable, thus the state-of-the-art West Springs Hospital opened started treating patients in December 2018.
The new 63,000 square foot facility, built adjacent to the old hospital footprint in Grand Junction, can now treat twice as many people as previously and provides a superlative healing environment with many enhanced treatment, safety and comfort features.The hospital now offers private rooms with private baths, a specialized wing and programs for childlren and teens, cafeteria with indoor and outdoor dining, indoor and outdoor exercise spaces and a range of creative, meditative and restorative places like cozy nooks, chroma (light) therapy rooms and arts & crafts areas.
As important as the new building is to our patients’ recovery, it’s West Springs Hospital’s people who really make the difference. Every member of the West Springs Hospital staff is fully engaged in the health and happiness of those entrusted to our care.