Author: Susan Greene
-
Whistleblowers say they falsified patient records at West Slope mental health center
A troubled Western Slope mental health care center falsified assessments of its patients’ conditions for at least nine years in an effort to make its treatment programs seem more effective and secure funding from the state, whistleblowers say. The state overlooked what former workers describe as a long practice by the Grand Junction-based Mind Springs…
-
Eastern Plains county settles officer-killing case for $9.5 million
Kiowa County has reached a $9.5 million settlement with the family of Zach Gifford, the unarmed local handyman who its undersheriff and a rookie deputy gunned down in 2020 with three bullets to the back. The amount exceeds the county’s $7.5 million annual budget, but is less than the $10 million maximum its insurance policy…
-
State of Colorado hid findings of ‘life-threatening’ errors at troubled mental health center
A pattern of “severe, life-threatening” prescription errors by the troubled mental health center responsible for treating 10 Western Slope counties put many of its patients at risk, according to the findings of an official investigation that three state agencies withheld from the public for more than nine months. The problems only came to light this…
-
CEO of Western Slope mental health center steps down after investigation
Mind Springs President and CEO Sharon Raggio stepped down Tuesday after the Colorado News Collaborative and many of its news partners statewide published an investigative story outlining how the nonprofit failed Coloradans needing care in the 10 Western Slope counties it is contracted with the state to serve. The article about Mind Springs detailed how…
-
State mental health safety net is ‘failing’ Coloradans. Will planned reforms fix or further the problems?
This investigation is part of the ongoing “On Edge” series about Colorado’s mental health by the Colorado News Collaborative, the nonprofit that unites more than 160 communities and news outlets like ours to ensure quality news for all Coloradans. The series title reflects a state that has the nation’s highest rate of adult mental illness…
-
One of Colorado’s smallest street protests becomes one of most violent
ALAMOSA — The protesters, about a dozen in all, gathered early last month in the intersection of State Avenue and Main Street. Like protesters across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by police, they were demanding police accountability and racial justice. The group occupied the crosswalk during red lights, then stepped to…