UCHealth describes 'Next Chapter' veterans behavioral‑health pilot, says no enrolled client has died by suicide

Damian McCabe, director of behavioral health for UCHealth in southern Colorado, told the Colorado Springs City Council during its Aug. 25 work session that a UCHealth‑led pilot program called Next Chapter enrolled about 1,250 veterans and family members and that “no one has taken their own life since enrollment.”

McCabe said the program was designed to reduce stigma and financial barriers to care by linking existing community “nodes of service” — including Mount Carmel, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Silver Key and a peer‑support network — to UCHealth’s clinical infrastructure. The program offered a centralized portal for same‑day or scheduled access and, during the three‑year pilot, focused on crisis intervention, referrals and measurable outcomes.

McCabe said the state gave the initiative three explicit goals: create low‑barrier access to care for…