Mind Springs Health, a Colorado-based mental health provider, has entered an agreement with Larkin Health, a Florida-based nonprofit healthcare organization, to ensure the continued operation of its clinics and West Springs Hospital. This move comes after a period of significant challenges for Mind Springs, including state investigations, allegations of fraud, and financial difficulties. The details of the agreement are still being finalized, but both organizations have expressed a commitment to maintaining a community focus and meeting the needs of the region. Larkin Health will provide support to Mind Springs through a nonprofit structure, while Mind Springs will retain its own board and explore ways to involve patients in governance. This partnership aims to address the ongoing concerns surrounding Mind Springs and stabilize its operations.
West Springs Hospital Admissions Coordinator Evan Oeinck monitors the patient intake entrance at the hospital located in Grand Junction Friday October 14, 2022. (William Woody/Special to The Denver Post)Both Mind Springs’ clinics and the hospital are coming off difficult years, which included multiple state investigations, allegations of fraud from former employees and financial struggles.
Mind Springs can’t buy it the way it could a fellow for-profit provider, Mind Springs spokeswoman Judy Mendoza said. But they’re working on a permanent agreement through which Mind Springs’ clinics and West Springs Hospital will exist under Larkin’s nonprofit arm, she said. The two sides are still working out some structural questions, Mendoza said. Mind Springs would still have its own board, and they’ve discussed ways to include patients in governance, such as having a former patient or advocate on a new board, she said. “Larkin Health and Mind Springs are very interested in keeping a community focus,” Mendoza said. “We want to make sure we’re meeting community needs.” Right now, Mind Springs is sharing interim CEO Nick Torres with Larkin Hospital South Miami, Mendoza said. It also has an interim chief operating officer while trying to hire someone to fill that position long-term, she said.Representatives from Larkin, which owns two general hospitals and a psychiatric hospital in the Miami area, didn’t return calls from The Denver Post asking about the arrangement and why it was interested in Mind Springs. Mendoza said the two organizations connected because Larkin has an affiliation with the Grand Junction Veterans Administration Medical Center. In 2021, Rocky Mountain Health Plans, which administers Medicaid in western Colorado, suspended payments to Mind Springs for three months because of Mind Springs leadership told them to fill out paperwork as if they had treated patients whom they’d never seen. Asaid the hospital could close within weeks because of a dispute with Rocky Mountain Health Plans, which said the hospital owed it for overpayments. The two sides In December, the state health department granted West Springs an unrestricted license, meaning it no longer has to hire an outside organization to manage it. St. Mary’s Regional Hospital had managed West Springs while it was under a conditional license, which also required it to submit monthly financial reports to the state. West Springs has 48 inpatient beds and a psychiatric emergency room. The state has inspected it nine times since June 2023, and didn’t identify any problems. Most of the inspections resulted from complaints to regulators
MIND SPRINGS WEST SPRINGS HOSPITAL LARKIN HEALTH NONPROFIT COMMUNITY HEALTH MENTAL HEALTH COLORADO AGREEMENTS FINANCIAL STRUGGLES STATE INVESTIGATIONS
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