How Eagle Valley Behavioral Health is building a new model for addressing mental health

As the first new community mental health center in 30 years, the provider has faced unique opportunities and challenges

Since its inception, Eagle Valley Behavioral Health has sought to do things differently when it comes to addressing the Eagle County community’s mental and behavioral health needs.

From becoming the state’s first new community mental health center in nearly three decades to bringing together community organizations and resources as well as filling community behavioral health needs, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Vail Health is forging ahead to bring changes to a flawed system.

“We’ve learned a great deal over the last few years. We’ve started off on different paths and learned that that path, for whatever reason, might not work well for our community or didn’t make the most sense. And we’ve constantly adjusted paths,” said Chris Lindley, the executive director of Eagle Valley Behavioral Health and chief population officer for Vail Health.