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Southern Ute tribal health program adds mobile unit, expands therapy and recovery services
Summary
Southern Ute leaders briefed the working group on a mobile medical unit, expanded behavioral-health staffing and programs, planned recovery housing, and high utilization: the tribe schedules 450–500 therapy sessions per month and serves IHS-eligible people free of charge.
Michael Gene, tribal council treasurer for the Southern Ute, and Rebecca Gail, the tribe's behavioral health manager, described an expansion of tribal behavioral-health services including a new mobile medical unit intended to deliver care across reservation lands and checkerboard jurisdictions.
Rebecca Gail outlined the tribal program's staffing and services: six independently licensed therapists, two certified addiction specialists, a part-time contracted psychiatrist, a full-time physician for medication-assisted treatment, a patient care coordinator, and a clinical-intern program with the University of Denver's Four Corners MSW program. She said the program is providing in-person visits, telehealth, community and detention-center services, and culturally based group offerings.
Gail reported that the program is scheduling "between 450 and 500 sessions per month," is developing recovery housing (men's and women's houses at ASAM 3.1 level) and plans an opioid treatment program with methadone for qualifying patients. The tribe serves any IHS-eligible person and offers services free of charge to that population, Gail said.
Why it matters: Health services on reservation lands face travel and access barriers. A mobile unit, expanded workforce, and recovery housing aim to increase continuity of care and reduce post-discharge return to high-risk environments.
Next steps: The tribe is finalizing policies and procedures to roll out the mobile unit and is recruiting to fill open prevention/coordinator roles; members offered training partnership opportunities, including equine-assisted therapy collaboration.
