Health Solutions tells council its SOS co‑responder team took 1,064 calls and plans to expand to six days a week
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Summary
Health Solutions presenters said their SOS team has handled 1,064 non‑urgent behavioral‑health calls for Pueblo Police Department since September 2023, that about 60% were welfare checks, and that a second team is being built to expand coverage to six days per week once staff are hired.
Rochelle Brown, outreach and engagement supervisor, and Tim Miller, vice president of specialty services with Health Solutions, told the council about the Solution Outreach Services (SOS) co‑responder program. They said SOS began in September 2023 to answer non‑urgent behavioral‑health calls routed from Pueblo Police Department dispatch and that the team includes a clinician, EMS personnel (EMT/paramedic) and a peer with lived experience.
Presenters said one SOS team working three days per week had responded to 1,064 calls through February, that about 60% of calls are welfare checks, and that 197 people referred by SOS subsequently enrolled in Health Solutions services. They described case examples in which SOS staff built rapport, arranged ambulance transport and coordinated with emergency-room discharge planners for follow-up care. Presenters said the program is currently grant-funded but aims to be sustainable through billing (e.g., Medicaid) and other revenue, and that they are recruiting staff to stand up a second team that would enable coverage six days a week (Monday–Saturday), pending hiring.
Councilors commended the program, asked about monthly trends and follow-up, and were told SOS has CAD access to identify appropriate calls and that Health Solutions care coordinators and peer specialists help arrange continuity of care after initial response.