The inaugural chief of Colorado’s new Behavioral Well being Administration has lasted little greater than a yr within the place.
Dr. Morgan Medlock, a public well being skilled who had beforehand been chief medical officer for the Washington, D.C., Division of Behavioral Well being, was in command of Colorado’s new administration for about 15 months.
With out mentioning Medlock’s identify, Gov. Jared Polis’ workplace introduced in a information launch Monday that the state’s human providers director would take over as interim head of the Behavioral Well being Administration, “efficient instantly.”
Michelle Barnes, who already oversees the state’s youngster welfare system and grownup protecting providers as head of the Colorado Division of Human Providers, will tackle supervision of the Behavioral Well being Administration as a nationwide seek for a brand new commissioner takes place.
“The governor’s dedication to making sure Coloradans have entry to psychological well being and substance use dysfunction providers stays sturdy,” Polis’ workplace stated.
When he appointed Medlock to his cupboard, Polis referred to as it a part of the “transformational change” within the state’s behavioral well being system.
The governor introduced plans to create a brand new administration centered on psychological well being in 2020 on the advice of a activity pressure that had met for the earlier yr. The group traveled the state listening to tales of a fragmented system that left folks with out entry to suicide prevention, substance abuse remedy and different psychological well being care. The group referred to as for a centralized workplace for psychological well being to interchange the splintered system that included 75 applications unfold throughout three state businesses.
Previous to the brand new administration, the state’s suicide prevention workplace was a part of the Colorado Division of Public Well being and Surroundings, but 24-hour, walk-in providers for psychological well being had been overseen by the Colorado Division of Human Providers. Substance abuse applications had been housed inside the human providers division, however many had been funded by the state Division of Well being Care Coverage and Financing.
Barnes was chair of that activity pressure. Now, her six-person senior government workforce on the human providers division will function co-interim administrators of the division whereas Barnes takes over the Behavioral Well being Administration, the governor’s workplace stated. Polis’ spokesperson Conor Cahill didn’t instantly reply to a request for additional remark Monday night.
The Behavioral Well being Administration was created as Colorado poured $450 million in federal COVID reduction funds into psychological well being providers. The BHA to date has invested greater than $150 million in providers, the governor’s workplace stated.
Medlock, a doctor, was chosen in January 2022 to guide a brand new period for psychological well being in Colorado. She spent her first two months on the job touring the state’s psychological well being hospitals, group psychological well being clinics and substance abuse remedy facilities.
In an interview with The Solar final yr, Medlock stated her first precedence was to verify folks know the place to go for remedy, a plan that required assist from libraries, homeless shelters and physician’s workplaces. She additionally had ambitions to create a system through which folks might obtain psychological well being and substance abuse remedy in the identical clinics.
