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Woodland Centers reports higher service volumes, adds beds and uses AI to speed clinician notes
Summary
Woodland Centers told Kandiyohi County commissioners it delivered more than 110,000 services in 2025 to 5,527 individuals, expanded crisis‑bed capacity, and deployed an AI note‑assist (Elios) used by 114 staff that has generated ~53,000 notes and reduced average documentation time to about 4.3 minutes.
Ashley Chos, executive director of Woodland Centers, briefed commissioners on the agency’s 2025 activity and initiatives during the April 7 meeting.
Chos said Woodland provided over 110,000 services in 2025 and delivered care to 5,527 individuals across ages 3 to 90, with a substantial share delivered within its seven‑county service area. She described expansion of crisis capacity in 2025 — including a new youth bed and two adult beds — that increased the center’s ability to admit people who previously might have been turned away because of shared rooms.
The presentation highlighted school‑based mental health and outpatient services trends, telehealth use patterns and an effort to use measurement‑based care to track outcomes. Chos reported that across several outcome measures Woodland saw improvements: 42% of clients with mild to severe depression showed improvement and 19% reached remission; 49% with anxiety showed improvement and 20–25% reached remission.
Woodland has also adopted a documentation tool it calls Elios. Chos said Elios ‘‘sits in the background of our documentation’’ to summarize sessions and speed note completion; 114 staff are using it and it has generated about 53,000 notes since August 2024. She said the average time to complete a note is now about 4.28 minutes compared with an industry average near 15 minutes, and Woodland estimates roughly 7,500 staff hours saved.
Commissioners thanked Woodland staff for services and noted the organization’s local economic impact (240 staff; $27 million budget with roughly $13.5 million in salaries reinvested in the region). Chos said the agency continues to pilot AI for intake and comp evaluations and will test a Videa tool to help with diagnostic assessments.
