Larimer County officials and Summit Stone Health Partners told the Board of County Commissioners on July 7, 2025, that Longview, the county’s acute behavioral health facility, will add short-term overnight crisis stabilization beds for adolescents ages 12 to 17, with construction beginning the day of the meeting and an anticipated service launch in September or October.

The change expands inpatient-capable crisis care at Longview while keeping the facility’s mission focused on acute stabilization rather than long-term residential treatment. “This is acute care, so that stay is 5 to 7 days on average,” said Leslie Brooks, chief medical officer for Summit Stone Health Partners and executive director for services at Longview.

The expansion responds to local demand and prior voter support for behavioral health funding. Amy Martinis, Larimer County Director of Behavioral Health Services, noted the county’s 2018 voter-approved funding surcharge: “in 2018 our community made the very forward thinking decision to tax ourselves 25¢ on a $100 so that there would be dedicated funding for behavioral health services,” she said.

Why it matters: the added adolescent beds aim to reduce transfers to emergency departments and distant inpatient facilities by keeping more youth in a local, medically supervised setting for short-term stabilization, withdrawal management and medication initiation. Summit Stone and county staff said the effort fills a gap in the county’s continuum of care while recognizing that some youth will still require higher-level, longer-term inpatient placements.

What Summit Stone will provide and when: Summit Stone plans to open five adolescent rooms initially and expand to eight as demand and experience dictate. The firm told commissioners the facility will ultimately have about 56 beds total; the adolescent expansion creates an eight-bed adolescent capacity within that total. Construction to meet licensure and physical separation requirements started the day of the meeting and is expected to last about four weeks. Summit Stone and the county are anticipating a community open-house event on Sept. 15, and Summit Stone said it anticipates launching adolescent overnight services in September or October, pending final approvals and staffing.

Referrals, scope and patient flow: Summit Stone will initially accept adolescent admissions to the new beds by referral from the Larimer County Department of Human Services as a “soft opening” to develop operational practice. Amy Martinis and Summit Stone staff said they expect to expand community-wide referrals over time after gaining initial experience. Summit Stone staff said adolescents will continue to be seen through the facility’s behavioral health urgent care and 23-hour observation; “about 60 percent of the folks we see in our urgent care are able to be stabilized, safety plan, and get back out to the community,” Brooks said. The remaining patients are either admitted to beds at Longview or require placement at a higher level of care.

Licensure, oversight and clinical limits: Summit Stone described multiple licensure steps required to operate adolescent overnight care at Longview. They said they obtained Behavioral Health Administration endorsements and are pursuing an Acute Treatment Unit (ATU) designation to preserve adult crisis capacity while adding adolescent beds. They are also seeking a Residential Child Care Facility (RCCF) license from the Colorado Department of Human Services and coordinating oversight with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Summit Stone said it obtained a waiver enabling the use of seclusion and emergency medication where clinically necessary and allowed under behavioral health licensing.

Clinical model and staffing: Summit Stone described a short-term crisis stabilization model that includes withdrawal management, medication management, daily medical review, and a multidisciplinary treatment team. Staffing plans include a child psychiatrist and child psychologist, an occupational therapist experienced with inpatient work, behavioral health technicians, peer specialists, nurses and care coordinators. Clinical modalities named include motivational interviewing, adolescent dialectical behavior therapy, trauma systems therapy, occupational therapy–based interventions, biofeedback/neurofeedback and collaborative, family-informed discharge planning.

Family engagement, training and community alignment: Summit Stone emphasized family-centered care and psychoeducation as part of discharge planning and said the facility will coordinate closely with Larimer County Department of Human Services and local outpatient providers to arrange follow-up. County and Summit Stone staff said they are aligning the unit’s practices with broader state system-of-care initiatives and workforce training, and plan to provide a status update about 30 days after the facility’s soft opening.

Placement beyond Longview: commissioners asked about children who need longer or higher-level inpatient care. Summit Stone said the organization coordinates placements with local hospital partners, including UCHealth, and will refer to out-of-county facilities when necessary. “We coordinate with our local emergency departments and hospital partners for that immediate stabilization,” Cassie D’Amato, Summit Stone’s director of acute services, said.

Safety, complaints and oversight: Summit Stone told commissioners it trains staff in de-escalation, crisis prevention and boundaries and said seclusion, emergency medication and physical restraint would be used only as last resorts per clinical orders and state rules. Staff outlined formal complaint pathways through Summit Stone and state regulators, including the Behavioral Health Administration, Colorado Department of Human Services and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Unresolved limits and next steps: Summit Stone and county staff said initial adolescent admissions will be limited to Larimer County Department of Human Services referrals while the team develops procedures and staffing; a timeline for opening beds to all county residents was not specified. Staff offered to report back with a 30‑day status update after the soft opening. Construction work is expected to take about four weeks from the day it began, and a community open house is planned for Sept. 15.

Commissioners thanked Summit Stone and county staff for the work and acknowledged that licensure and facility changes required coordination across multiple state agencies. The board did not take formal votes during the presentation; the item was presented for information and discussion.