Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration has outlined a transformative plan for reforming the state’s behavioral healthcare infrastructure. In this “What They’re Watching” interview, we hear from Summer Gathercole, the deputy commissioner of operations at the BHA, about some of the administration’s overarching goals and the conversations that went into the design of the BHA’s work. Gathercole works closely with BHA Commissioner Dr. Morgan Medlock in overseeing the new state administration.
A broad goal of the BHA, according to Gathercole, is addressing the generational nature of behavioral health issues. She says its leaders are focused on how to make sure Colorado has a behavioral health infrastructure that takes into account the needs of future generations as well as the current generation.
“What does the continuum of care need to look like two generations from now? … What do we wish we would have known two generations ago to not be in the dire situation that we are now? So really stepping back and rethinking the continuum, and rethinking how we do our work for that generational impact, is super exciting.”