Cracks emerge in Colorado's mental health system

• Health officials for months have predicted the next looming crisis could be a mental health pandemic, resulting from a culmination of COVID-induced factors including social isolation, high stress and devastating loss.

The findings: The Colorado News Collaborative, a nonprofit journalism coalition, found the state's system lacks oversight and transparency. Colorado's top mental health centers regularly deny care to some of the most vulnerable residents — and state officials have failed to step in.

• Mental health facilities in the state have been charging taxpayers nearly 20 times more than independent Medicaid providers for the same services, with little explanation for the discrepancies. They also received non-compete contracts.

Zoom in: The Mental Health Center of Denver has emerged as a particularly egregious example.

• It is sitting on more than $41 million in cash reserves while patients face record-long wait times for treatment.
• The CEO Carl Clark took a $819,340 salary in 2019, more than 10 times what the average clinician earns.

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